Growing Up Is Hard To Do
by xxNight Angelxx
Summary: Take your favourite characters, add a couple of new ones and some twists, and what do you get? Read "Growing Up Is Hard To Do" and follow the story of Lily Evans and James Potter from the minute they meet to the minute they finish Hogwarts.
1. The Dream

Waving one last time to her family, Lily Evans prepared herself for the journey ahead. She was about to enter a world only briefly experienced two weeks before as she had passed through that wall and entered Diagon Alley. Now, as she turned and started to walk through the invisible barrier of Platform 9 3/4, she wondered what lay in store for her during the next 7 years.   
As she passed through the barrier she was amazed to see so many children saying goodbye to their families, their parents dressed in robes similar to those in her trunk; only these were different colours and of so many different styles. A single tear shed from her eye already she missed her parents. Quickly she ran back through, hoping they were still there. She noticed them 20 metres away, heading towards the exit. She ran towards them, "Mum! Dad!" she called after them.   
Her parents continued to walk, ignoring her cries. Her sister Petunia turned around and flashed her a dirty glance mixed with one of puzzlement. Once more Lily ran after them but just 5 metres away she was stopped. Something was preventing her from getting towards them. "Mum!" she called once more. But when she looked her parents were gone, her sister too. Then, slowly, the people around her vanished. The clock overhead struck 11, the barrier to the train closed. Lily was left alone in the train station, her footsteps echoing softly.

Lily Evans awoke in her bed, panting heavily, her red hair clinging to the back of her neck. Outside tinges of pink were starting to creep across the dark night sky. 'What time is it?' she wondered as she looked blurry-eyed at the glowing numbers of her alarm clock. The display read 5:57, though it was the date that had her attention - September 1st. The first day at her new school, of her new life.

Memories of her dream seeped into her thoughts, refusing to let her sleep. Frustrated she made her way towards the bathroom across the hall from her room. Less than an hour later she was downstairs; showered, dressed and ready to leave. She sat on the step of her back door, a mug of hot chocolate in her hand, watching the sun rise. So lost in her thoughts, Lily failed to hear her mother come down. It took a hand on the shoulder to jolt her thoughts.   
"Excited?" her mother asked.   
"What?" asked Lily, slightly startled.   
Her mother smiled, her green eyes twinkling. "I said 'are you excited?'"   
"Oh, yes, I suppose," She answered rather flatly.   
"You suppose, what you're not sure?" Her mother's voice was laced with laughter but her eyes showed a deep concern.   
"Well it's not that. I just...I guess I'm a little afraid." She sighed, knowing she was being stupid but having doubts anyway.   
"Her mothers' eyes showed more concern. "Afraid? Of what?"   
Lily shrugged, not wanting to worry her mother. "The usual new school stuff I guess; not knowing anyone, not being able to make friends. What if no-one likes me? And then there was my dream..." she stopped, not meaning to let it slip.

"Dream? What dream?" Her mother asked. Obediently Lily retold the images she'd seen the night before. She told of she was left alone; her own family didn't even recognise her.   
She then explained how she was unsure of whether or not they _would_ recognize her after a year - and even if they did would she recognize them. She'd change, everything would change. "I just don't want to forget - to be left alone."   
"Sweetie," her mother began. Her arms wrapped around her in a comforting embrace. "None of us are going to forget you. And you're not going to forget us. You can come back in the holidays and chances are you'll make so many friends and be having so much fun that you won't want to know us anyway."   
Lily laughed, feeling much better. "I'll be back," she assured her mother.   
"Good," she smiled before standing and heading towards the kitchen. "So what do you want for breakfast?"


	2. Saying Goodbye and Hello

10 o'clock that morning Lily Evans left her Surrey home, packed into the back of her father's company car. Her sister sat with her, silent, a stony look on her face. Between them sat a cat in a carrier box. As she waved goodbye to her home mentally, she prepared herself for the experience that lay ahead.   
Her mother kept up the conversation, it was light and friendly and just what Lily needed to keep her mind off her nervousness. Her father, in a way he often did to hide his feelings, kept himself busy This time by concentrating on the road on which he was driving.

--------

"And remember, you can write to us at any time. If you're feeling alone or want to come home..." she heard her mother say in the same sing-song tones of concern she had used earlier that day.   
"Mum - mum, I know. It's OK. You've told me like 100 times already. I'll be fine."   
Her mother smiled, hugging her once more, "Oh I know sweetie. It's just...I'm going to miss you so much. I want you to write so that I know what you're doing, what your life is like."   
Lily laughed as she untangled herself from her mother. "I will mum. I'll write every week."   
As her mum sniffed and nodded, Lily went to say good-bye to her father.   
"I'll see you when you get back," he said, trying to be casual. He acted as though she were spending the night at her friends.   
Adopting the same attitude, Lily tried to be casual. "I guess you will," she said as she hugged him, choking a little as he clutched her in his bear-like grip.   
Next she moved onto her sister who startled her with her stony silence. She appeared to be looking anywhere but at Lily, as though the connection of eyes would cause her to spontaneously combust.   
"I'm going to miss you Petunia," she lied easily. Had it not been for the way her sister had treated her since she'd found out Lily was going to Hogwarts, this probably wouldn't have been a lie. But as it was the two sisters despised each other. The awkwardness came when Lily tried to hug her sister, who went limp in her arms, pretending she did not know what her sister was doing.   
Slowly she pulled away and grabbed hold of her trunk. Saying good-bye to her family she headed towards the platform, knowing how to get there because she had read it in one of her new school text books.

She came out to an overwhelming sight. In front of her lay a huge red steam train, the words "Hogwarts Express" stuck to it in gold. In the windows she could already see people sat down waiting to leave. Other people stood on the platform, either about to get on the train or saying goodbye to their loved ones. With a tiny pang she pushed away the tears, forbidding herself to go back. Instead she walked semi-confidently towards the train, passing a fair haired boy as she did so. He was about her age, but smaller, with a rat-like appearance. His mother was fussing over him, making sure he had everything and that he looked respectable.   
The first couple of compartments on the first carriage of the train were full, though she did find an empty one towards the middle. With five minutes until the train was due to leave, Lily Evans sat alone in her compartment and cried.

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As the train readied itself to leave a young boy jumped on, waving and grinning wildly at his parents. A look of relief, saying "Thank Merlin he got on there" was on both their faces, though the man's expression also said "I'm going to kill that boy."

With his parents out of view, the young boy made his way towards the compartment in which he had previously stored his trunk and owl.

He stood in the doorway, running a hand through his already messy dark hair. He was surprised to find a girl in there; alone, crying and with her back to him, so that all he could see was her fiery red hair. He coughed gently so as not to startle her too much.

She turned to him, her emerald green eyes showing clearly through the puffiness. She made a big effort to stop crying, though her voice still shuddered when she asked "Yes?"

"You're kind of in my compartment," he said in a friendly but awkward way.

"Oh, Sorry. I didn't..." she stopped suddenly, her eyes fixed on a trunk and an owl in the corner of the carriage. "Oh, my gosh. Are they yours? I'm so terribly sorry, I didn't see them."

The boy laughed quietly. It was a beautiful sound, soft and gentle but still maintaining masculinity. "It's OK, we can share."

The girl nodded and said little else. As the train moved she looked out of the window, watching the scenery pass-by. After just 10 minutes of silence, in which the boy made a lot of noise searching for something in his trunk, the boy spoke.

"Say, are you alright?" His eyes narrowed as he looked at her.

The girl nodded once more. The boy looked her up and down, noting her faded jeans and baby pink t-shirt.

"You're muggle born right, right?" He waited for her to nod. "That explains why you're so upset. You're sad to see your family go but are nervous and excited too right? A new world to enter, it's bound to be daunting."

The girl eyed him curiously as he continued. "Well don't worry, most of us are pretty decent people, there's the odd ones who'll think they're better than you because they're 'pure blood' - have no muggle lineage - but on the whole we're pretty decent people. And you've obviously got enough magic in you otherwise you wouldn't be here would you?"

"No...Thank you." The girl cheered up dramatically. She became more interested in her surroundings and her companion. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "What's your name?"

The boy smiled but before he could answer a loud voice spoke up from the doorway.

"James Potter. So this is where you've been hiding yourself is it? Oh, and you've found yourself a new friend."

Both the boy and girl turned to see a tall, broad boy their own age. His dark hair, though short, showed signs of being a shaggy mass. His dark eyes twinkled with a sort of cheerfulness that only those who knew him would understand. Beside him was a girl. She was several inches smaller with shoulder length, mid-brown hair. Her hazel eyes were warm and welcoming.

"Sirius, man. Where were you?" The one named James asked. "I was waiting for you."

Sirius' face flushed, but didn't blush. "Oh, yeah, sorry mate. I just got a little caught up…You know how it is." He put his hand out to take the girls, but she had already moved away and was sat beside the red-head. He took the opportunity to sit next to his friend.

"Hey," the girl said. "My name's Alex, never call me Alexandra." She warned dangerously.

The red-head laughed nervously. Before she could say anything, Alex was talking again. "Now, if you haven't already guessed. He," she pointed at the boy she had walked in with. "Is Sirius Black." She then dropped her voice to a whisper and muttered, "He likes to pretend he's really tough, but he's a big softie really. Aren't you honey?" She asked loudly.

"Whatever you say," he answered, having not been listening.

"And he," she continued, gesturing at the boy with the messy hair. "Is James Potter. These two are best-friends. They love to play jokes on people."

The red-head nodded. "Alex, Sirius and James," she recited, pausing slightly at James' name. "I'm Lily. Lily Evans."

"Well it's nice to meet you Lily Evans," Sirius said gruffly.

"Yeah, wonderful," Alex agreed.

James just looked at her, smiled and nodded.


	3. And 2 more makes 4

Their journey passed pleasantly and peacefully. Lily learnt about the magical world and the things that her three companions had got up to. About half-way through their journey the refreshment cart came by. The boys took this break in the conversation as a sign to leave and wandered away. The girls remained and Lily told Alex about her experiences in the muggle world. Alex was fascinated.

--------

The boys journeyed to the opposite end of the train. Behind them lay a scene chaos. Jelly-like blobs of once human students pooled onto the floor. Some had sprouted extra limbs or facial features. Screams issued from the mouths of those who hadn't been affected. So much so, in fact, that the boys quite literally tied their tongues. Any speech or noise they tried to make came out thick and heavy.

Laughing triumphantly the boys failed to notice they had come face-to-face with a fair-haired boy their own age. His skin was a pale yellow and his eyes sunken. In his hand he clutched a battered copy of _Magic Made Easy_. He had come out to inspect the commotion. Seeing the terror opposite him he sighed and shook his head, though a smile twitched at his lips.

"Nice to see you've grown up," he remarked to Sirius and James, who smiled.

"Remus Lupin," said Sirius slowly.

"How've you been?" James asked, continuing Sirius' speech.

The fair-haired boy they had called "Remus" allowed the smile to break out on his face.

"Ah, P and B. I should have known it, who else could cause such a scene?" He laughed joyfully. "It's good to see you guys. I almost forgot you were starting this year, too."

"You forgot about us? Your two best friends?" asked Sirius, feigning hurt.

"Oh please," Remus muttered. "You're not offended. You don't take offence, remember?"  
"You know me too well," Sirius replied sadly.

The three boys broke into a hearty laughter. The meld of James' soft but masculine tones with Sirius' baritone laughter and Remus' deep yet calming sound was like a perfect piece of music.

They entered Remus' compartment and talked about old times and their recent achievements.

It transpired that the three boys had gone to primary school together where they had learnt the basics of magic. Together they could do anything they were taught in 5 minutes. Their extra time, whilst others practised, was used on experimenting with other magic's. Thus grew their thirst for practical jokes. And so it became known that James, Sirius and Remus; the cutie, the joker and the brain, were not to be messed with.

It was with great relief, for the teachers at least, when one day, all of a sudden, Remus announced he was leaving. His father had gotten a transfer to another department in another town. With Remus gone, it was believed that the other two would settle down.

Hah, no such luck.

It seemed that with Remus gone, so was the calming influence. James and Sirius' pranks became more spur-of-the-moment and completely random. Almost everyday they were taken to see the head teacher.

Whilst the boys were doing this, Remus was put in a lower ability class than the rest of his fellow students. It was a great surprise when he could already do the magic and spells they set him. They soon moved him up, with this came his shadow. Being in the lower class had meant he'd befriended some people. After he got moved up, most people forgot about him. One boy however, had stuck to him like glue. At lunch and breaks and any other interaction time, the boy had been there. Following him, watching his every move. Oh, how Remus had struggled to make friends after that.

This fact Sirius and James had found hilarious. "Aww, how cute." Sirius had remarked through laughter. At this Remus had to join in, too. They stopped only when a small boy popped his head around the door.

"Remus," the boy squeaked. "I thought that was your laughter I heard. I wasn't sure because I didn't see you get on the train."

"Yeah, sorry about that Pete. I got here earlier than I'd anticipated." In truth he deliberately didn't arrive at the arranged time in hope of avoiding Peter.

"Oh, right," came the quiet but pitched reply. "I thought it must have been something like that." He lowered himself into a chair, knocking over an empty cage as he went.

Silently James and Sirius shook with refrained laughter. Peter noticed the movement.

"Who are they?" he asked shortly.

"These are the friends I was telling you about. You know, from my old school? James Potter and Sirius Black." He turned then to the boys. "This is Peter Pettigrew….My friend."

"Hi," Peter smiled, though the boys were still too busy laughing to reply. Instead, Peter looked around the room, spying the discarded book beside Remus. "_Magic Made Easy_," he muttered, reading the cover. "Hey! Is that my book?"

"Yeah, you left it in my bag for some reason. Here," he handed the book over to Peter, who snatched it and attempted to hide it quickly. In his haste he fell off his chair, the book fell in front of James and Sirius. On seeing this sight and the book before them, they could no longer keep quiet. Their laughter echoed loudly around the compartment.


	4. The Sorting

The train stopped but their journey was far from over.  Following the giant-like man in front of them, the first years made their way towards a small pier-like area, by which several boats were tied.  Being half-way between the front and middle of the group, Lily and Alex were able to get a boat fairly quickly and were soon sailing towards the school.

"So how long have you been going out with Sirius for?" Lily asked interestedly.

Alex responded automatically, as though she'd been practicing this conversation in her head for a while.  "One month."

Lily nodded; surprised at how good they seemed together, considering the small time they'd been a couple.

"How long have…"

"We went to the same primary school, our parents are friends and we've known each other since forever." She answered the question Lily had not been able to ask.  She then answered the next question before Lily asked it.  "I don't know how much I like yet…This transition from friend to girlfriend, I'm still getting used to it." She sighed, giggling slightly at the look on Lily's face.  "Sorry, I just don't like being asked questions." She smiled slyly.  "I do, however, like asking them.  What do you think of James?"  
Lily stopped breathing for a second, not expecting the question. Fortunately, she was saved from answering as the boat reached the grassy banks of the Hogwarts Grounds and a loud voice shouted, "Firs' years, follow meh."

Stepping into the Great Hall and seeing a hundred students sat expectantly at one of four long tables with a slightly shorter one set up on a stage was enough to make Lily feel terrified.  Wondering what lay ahead of her, she was surprised when an old man stood forward, placing an old hat on a stool.  Confusion changed to shock for most as the hat burst into song;

_"Nigh on five thousand years ago,_

_        Four founders built this school._

_        Gave me brains to pick the students_

_        'Cos they knew I was no fool._

_        Four Houses to put you in,_

_        Where will you succeed the most?_

_        I'm the only one to decide,_

_        Though I try not to boast._

_        Should you belong in Gryffindor,_

_        You're anything but cowardly._

_        Making a home in Hufflepuff,_

_        Gives the chance to show your loyalty._

_        Those belonging in Ravenclaw,_

_        Are wise with a thirst for learnin'._

_        And those of daring and cunning_

_        Can only be a Slytherin._

_        So put me on,_

_        Like those before you,_

_        And those still yet to come._

_        Now we'll see who belongs with whom."_

The first years stared at the hat as the rest of the hall broke into applause.  Slowly smiles crept onto their faces as they started to clap.  Once they had finished the hat spoke again.

"Andrews, Jacob."  Jacob sat on the stool.  "Hufflepuff."

"Black, Narcissa.  Sly…Gryffindor."

"Black, Sirius," he took his seat, giving a wide grin to the audience watching him.  The hat spoke again, "Gryffindor."

"Buckley, Anita" became the first Slytherin, while the first Ravenclaw was "Burton, John."  Several more people were sorted and with each one came a stronger feeling of nervousness from Lily.  Finally she heard the call "Evans, Lily" and sat on the stool with an awkward anxiousness.

A voice in her head telling her that she could do well wherever she went didn't help her.  She'd hoped for a simple sit on the stool and then off again.  Obviously that was too much to ask for.

_"Ah, so you're a feisty one then?" _The voice that Lily assumed was the hat asked_.  "Then I guess you'll be a…Gryffindor."_

The whole table erupted into applause as Lily walked over.  She sat beside Sirius, who clapped her on her back.

The next person called was "Fentworth, Alexandra."  Scowling, Alex took her seat to be told that she, too, was a Gryffindor.  There were two more Gryffindors "Glover, Marie" and "Howard, Alice" before the next Ravenclaw, "Jordan, Edward."

A few letters, and about 7 people, later, came yet more Gryffindors.  This time "Longbottom, Frank" and "Lupin, Remus."  It was no surprise, to James and his friends, at least, when "Malfoy, Lucius" was announced to be a Slytherin.  It was, however, when "Pettigrew, Peter" became a Gryffindor.

Next was "Potter, James."  Slowly but confidently James walked up to and sat on the stool.  With a self-assuredness his classmates would come to recognize as arrogance, James was thinking it was already a given that he would be sorted into Gryffindor.  It was a shock to him when the hat spoke, casting doubts in his mind.

_"Hmm, Mr Potter, you're a tough on to sort.  Ravenclaws good knowledge, Slytherins wicked side, the loyalty and caring of Hufflepuff and, of course, Gryffindors courage.  Yes, where to put you."_

James' eyes flicked towards the Gryffindor table.  He looked at his friends and smiled unsurely.

"_Ah, yes.  Your friends.  You seem to thrive among them…Though not as much as you will with a certain young lady."_  James frowned at these words, wondering who the hat meant.  _"But for now, your friends will be your strength, that and your arrogant persistence."_  James grinned wickedly.  _"And you're going to need it to be a…Gryffindor"_

James walked over to the cheering table, brushing past Narcissa as he went.  He smiled at her to show his apology then sat with his friends.

The next person sorted was "Snape, Severus" who became a Slytherin.  A couple more people were sorted before, finally, a semi-old man in light blue robes stood up, introduced himself as Professor Dumbledore, head teacher of the school, and announced the feast had started.

It passed pleasantly, with the new Gryffindors making a name for themselves as tricksters.  After the feast, they retired almost immediately, preparing themselves for the next day.


	5. Separations

Their first day passed without much incident. Every student received his/her timetable, to which there were several groans and cheers. The first lesson, Potions, was shared with the Slytherins, and as such was held by the Gryffindor Head of House. She was a pretty young woman, about 28 years of age. She gave a kindly aura but didn't hesitate in taking 5 points from Gryffindor when Sirius felt it necessary to charm the board to write its own messages. Trying to erase it before their professor saw it, Alex sent her own spell at the board, resulting in more explicit messages being written.

Lily, however, replaced these and added a further 5 points for displaying an outstanding knowledge of different plants in Herbology. Sirius seemed to learn from his mistake and kept his wand waving restricted to that required in lessons, for that day at least. Between them, Lily and Alex gained another 25b points that day. Each day seemed to pass like this. One of them; that is James, Sirius, Remus or Peter, lost points whilst Lily and Alex gained them. They were complete opposites but somehow the six of them fit together.

--------

As her mother predicted, Lily fit in perfectly with the people in her school. With in a week she had befriended almost everyone, and she didn't hesitate in telling her mother so. In her first letter she also wrote:

_"There's just a small group of girls who ignore me completely. They're in Slytherin though, so it's to be expected. Slytherin are hated by all, their founder was a supposedly evil wizard, and he thought only pure blood wizards deserved to come to Hogwarts. His house is pretty much the same."_

She had written this as part of her informing her mother of the things she had done and the people she had met so far. She had spoken highly of her five new friends, Alex and James in particular.

After a month at Hogwarts they were beginning to settle in and get used to the routine. James and Sirius often groaned that they were given too much homework while Lily and Remus were quite happy to get on with it. Peter struggled through with it and Alex did it under great protest and an intense hate towards such work. "What do we need to do this for anyway?" She had complained one day. "It's kind of obvious we can do it, or they wouldn't have let us out of the room would they?" Lily had just laughed at her.

--------

October 6th brought a big change in Lily's life. She was sat in the Gryffindor Common Room, discussing the possibility of getting extra tuition for Transfiguration off James when it began. She didn't particularly need it, it was just an excuse for her to get him on his own for a bit, without the distractions of his friends. So there they were, sharing a couch and a packet of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans beside the fire when Sirius and Alex entered the room, both shouting at the top of there lungs.

"No big deal?" Alex spat at him. "You were snogging some other girl, and you have the cheek to tell me it was 'no big deal'? Why you…"

Sirius looked at her. "What about you? You were flirting with some guy just yesterday."

"That was different," she declared wilfully.

"How?"

"Well for a start, I wasn't cheating on you. And I was trying to get him to give me the answers to the Herbology homework. For both of us." Tears were starting to form in her eyes but she blinked them back furiously, refusing to let him see her cry.

"Yeah, and how far would it have gone if I hadn't caught the two of you?"

She slapped him, a red handprint appearing on his face almost immediately. His face contorted in pain, a quiet growl growing in his throat. "Well maybe we shouldn't be together anymore," he roared.

The growing crowd of onlookers gasped at this decision, their eyes trained on Alex to gauge her reaction.

"Fine," her voice was starting to waver as her eyes watered dangerously. "That's the best decision you've made yet." With that she ran up the stairs to the girls' dormitory, slipping through the crowd with little trouble. Sirius, too made a move to the stairs, this time for the boys' dormitory. He, however, was less graceful and simply pushed through the crowd, sending several sprawling.

Lily looked apologetically at James, "I'll have to…" She gestured above them.

"Yeah, me too."

They both stood, Lily walking away first. Upstairs she found Alex face down on her bed. Her head wad buried in her pillows to muffle her cries, though the erratic shaking gave it away. She sat beside her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. She shooed all the other girls away before speaking.

"Alex…Als, sweetie. Are you OK?"

"Prrfc," she heard the voice reply. Even though the word was muffled Lily could tell she was being sarcastic.

"I know it was a stupid question," Lily said patiently. "But I didn't really hear your answer. Pillows kind of make it difficult to hear a person, you know? So, come on. You don't have to talk, just come out from the pillows…Before you suffocate."

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James made an attempt towards the dormitory after he watched Lily go. Just a few metres away his clear path became obstructed. In front of him stood a tall, slim girl with blonde hair and icy eyes. Her nose looked slightly upturned and suggested there was something unpleasant beneath it. Even her smile failed to improve this look. Despite the fact that this was his best-friends cousin and he should therefore be nice to her, James sighed.

"What do you want, Narcissa?" he asked impatiently, his eyes drifting to the staircase behind her.

"I need your help," she explained, not seeming to take the hint.

"What, none of the other girls can help you?"

She shook her head, tears looking as though they wanted to spill. "I got kicked out the minute I set foot in our dormitory." A few drops were slowly making there way down her face now.

James frowned. "Well, come here then." He led her to the couch on which he and Lily had been sat on previously. "What's the problem?" He asked in a caring manner, though he didn't really want to be there.

He listened to her relay her fears of being alone and not having made a friend yet.

He looked at her, "Sure you have. You've got me and Sirius and Remus and…Well what about that group of Ravenclaws you were talking to the other day?"

She wrinkled her nose, "They didn't like my advice about their hairstyles. Not to mention they aren't in Gryffindor. No, I want to make friends here, with the girls, not just the guys."

James rolled his eyes mentally, trying not to let his disgust at her Gryffindor-only attitude show. 'So like a Slytherin' he thought bitterly, though he didn't voice this opinion. Instead, he said, "Tell you what. I'll talk to Lily and Alex. In the meantime why don't you be the charmer we both know you can be?"

Narcissa's smile shone through her tear-stained face. "Thanks," she said, leaning forward, her arms wrapping around him in a friendly hug.

Uncomfortably he tried to untangle himself. In doing so his face passed hers but got no further. Her lips pressed to his and he had no way of resisting.

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"I want to die," Alex wailed, finally removing her head from her pillow.

"I think that's a bit extreme," Lily told her, trying not to laugh. "I mean, you were only going out with him for a few weeks."

"Six weeks and three days," she corrected matter-of-factly. "And he made them so much better. With out him I may as well just shrivel up and die."

Lily couldn't help but grin, though she continued to suppress laughter.

"It's not funny," Alex cried. "He was the love of my life."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Alexandra," she said using her full name to make sure she had her attention. "You are eleven years old. Do you not think you're being just a little dramatic?"

Alex glowered at her, "No! We were meant to be together."

"Then you will stay end up together won't you?" Lily asked patiently, but in a way that implied she were talking to a small child.

Glowering at her still, Alex spoke. "How would you feel, if you found the guy you loved kissing some other girl?"

Lily couldn't help but giggle at this statement. "Love, is a very strong reaction for someone who wasn't even sure if they liked the idea of being in a relationship with her friend a few years ago." As she said this, she walked towards the dormitory entrance.

"You," Alex commented, throwing a pillow at Lily. "Are supposed to be trying to cheer me up."

Lily ignored her comment, stepping through the door, laughing as the pillow hit the wall.

With every intention of visiting the boys' dormitory to find the best place for sweets and other such unhealthy foods, Lily made her way down the stairs and towards the common room. All of these thoughts disappeared, though, as her eyes moved around the room, locking on a sight which shook her to the core. Her eyes had drifted to the display that was James and Narcissa kissing. Her vision was not broken until a dot the horizon in front of her got bigger and closer until it entered the window. Tooting, it flew through the gap between Narcissa and James' heads, prising them apart and scratching Narcissa's head as it went. It flew directly into Lily's now outstretched arms her eyes having been forcedly trained on its flight path.

"Come along, Nut," she spoke softly to the owl, keeping any traces of emotion out of her voice. With that she walked back to her dormitory, unaware of James' horrified reaction to Narcissa as they broke apart.

"Hey," she said sadly as she entered the room.

Taking the letter from a now impatient Nut, who hooted gratefully before flying away, Lily sat on Alex's bed.

"I don't know about cheering you up, but how about some company to be miserable with?" She asked, hugging her friend.

That night they both cried themselves to sleep; Alex for her separation with Sirius. Lily for the termination of her none-existent relationship with James.

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On the other side of the Gryffindor tower, Sirius was beating himself up over Alex.

"Why did I do it, mate?" he asked James bitterly.

By now the whole of Gryffindor knew about Sirius and Alex's split and so all the first year boys were giving Sirius some space in the dormitory. All, that is, except James who was keeping him company.

"I don't know, Sir." James was thinking about his kiss with Narcissa and asking himself the same question. "I guess, because you were weak. The opportunity came and you were too weak to pass it up."

He didn't know that Lily had seen him, didn't see the look on her face. No, instead, he was feeling bad about taking advantage of Narcissa while she was upset, and wondering why he hadn't been able to stop himself and fight back. The answer?

"We were both just too weak."


	6. The Marauders

Sirius seemed to get over Alex quickly. This was probably aided by the swarms of girls who felt it necessary to comfort him after news of his break-up spread through the castle.

James, on the other hand, was avoiding Narcissa like the plague. It wasn't that he didn't like her, because he did, just not like that. "I just don't think I'm ready for a girlfriend," he had lied to her one day, whilst thinking 'not that I want to be like Sirius.'

Instead, he was more concerned with establishing himself and his friends as the chief pranksters of the school. An achievement which came quickly, despite Peter's bumbling antics. As the last prankster's, "If you could call them that, all they did was a bit of old-style magic," Sirius had commented dryly, had left the previous year, their spot was open. All it took was a few dung bombs and disruptive spells and the boys were on the top. No distractions from the girls made it easier (James could not work out why Lily had suddenly stopped talking to him. After a couple of weeks he had given up trying to work it.)

A couple of days before Halloween the boys were sat in the Common Room talking about their latest act of trickery.

"Did you see the look on his face?" Peter squeaked for the fifth time.

"No," Remus said sarcastically, his patience with Peter diminishing quickly. "We missed it. We've just been laughing at the cracks in the wall for the past half-hour."

"Oh," said Peter, believing him completely.

James and Sirius laughed harder at his acceptance.

"Honestly, Pete," Sirius advised him. "Don't be so wet. Of course we saw him."

"Oh," Peter repeated, causing Remus to roll his eyes.

James intervened before anything could start. He passed bottles around the group, bottles they had been graciously handed at the kitchens.

"Here," he said quickly. "A toast to…" It occurred to him they didn't have a name for themselves. "The Marauders," he finished, looking at the smiling looks of approval from his friends.

He was startled by the hollow laughter coming from behind him. He turned around to see Alex putting her quill onto the table at which she sat.

"The Marauders," she repeated. "What kind of stupid name is that?"

James hadn't seen her much lately and was surprised by what he saw now. Her hazel eyes were sunken, dark rings framed them. Her, now half-way down the back, hair, had lost its once healthy appearance. It was, instead, a dull brown, limp and roughly tied up. James was speechless as, it seemed, was Sirius. It was Peter who jumped in and spoke up for them.

"It's not stupid," he squeaked angrily. "It gives us an edge, sets us apart from the rest of you. Plus, it doesn't just define who we are – it's catchy too."

Alex giggled, her usual cheeriness returning momentarily.

"Oh, it's catchy alright," she said as she gathered up her things. "Like the flu." With that she stood and walked away.

James broke into a grin, seeing the old short-tempered Alex again. He joined in with Remus and Sirius' jovial back-slapping of Peter, who was positively beaming.

"Good one, Pete," he laughed.

--------

"Where is it?" Lily moaned as she crawled on all fours around the dormitory floor. Around her was complete chaos. Robes and clothes lay strewn on the floor. Books, parchment and quills lay open and discarded. Somewhere, she knew, was a smashed bottle of ink. Pulling her bed sheets up and finding under her bed empty apart from a half-used bottle of nail varnish and a few dust ball, Lily gave a frustrated groan. "Where is it?" She repeated.

The only place she hadn't looked was behind her trunk, and though she doubted it would be there, Lily pulled it out anyway. True to form, there was nothing there, except a piece of parchment addressed to her. Forgetting her quest, Lily sat on her bed and read the letter.

_Lily,_

_ I hope everything's going OK for you. Your friends sound absolutely delightful. You must invite Alex back with you at Christmas; we'd love to meet her. And James, well he sounds like a sweetheart, but you don't want to be thinking about getting a boyfriend just yet. You're too young._

_No, have fun and keep focussed on you studies, there'll be plenty of time for boyfriends later._

_Tell me, what do you do in your spare time? I'm sure you don't spend all your time in lessons._

_Daddy says he can't wait to see you again, and Petunia sends her love._

_All the hugs and kisses in the world,_

_Mum._

_X o x o X_

Lily smiled between her tears. She knew neither her father nor her sister would have said such a thing; her father wouldn't like to show his feelings and her sister hated her too much to send love. But it was nice to think of them saying such things, to think of her family.

Another thought occurred, when had she received that? She searched the letter and found, there in the top right corner, her mothers small, delicate numbers. 4th October? But that was weeks ago.

Immediately Lily wrote a reply.

_Mum,_

_ I know it's taken me a long time to right back; I've just been really busy. You wouldn't believe the stuff we've been doing. A couple of weeks ago I was actually flying – On a broomstick! Can you believe it? I was doing quite well until I realised I was 27 feet in the air, I panicked and nearly crashed. I haven't been on again since._

_We've got a big feast coming up in a couple of days, to celebrate Halloween. I'm looking forward to it but I'm hoping they don't force us to sit next to people. Knowing my luck I'll get stuck next to James…_

_Speaking of which. He's not a sweetheart. I don't know why I ever became friends with him in the first place. And I especially wouldn't want to go out with him. He's so full of himself. I don't know why you would think I fancy him._

_I can't wait until Christmas, it'll be great to see you all again. I'll ask Alex about it._

_Lily._

Re-reading the letter she had received, Lily smiled at her mothers words, "Have fun, there'll be plenty of time for boyfriends later." How strange that her mother could still comfort her without actually being there, knowing what was going on.

Wrapped up in thoughts of plans for both herself and Alex, Lily didn't notice that Alex was in the room until she spoke.

"You'll never guess what…Lily, what did you do?" she asked, dropping her books at the sight around her. Since breaking up with Sirius, Alex had become obsessed with keeping the room tidy, "a distraction," Alice Howard, a fellow first year Gryffindor, had called it in a conversation with Lily.

"Huh?" Lily looked around the room, slightly dazed until she realised the dormitory was still a mess. "Oh, yeah," she murmured sheepishly. "I was looking for my Potions book."

"You mean this one?" Alex asked pulling the book from the pile she had dropped. "I kind of borrowed it to do my own homework. Sorry." She looked just as sheepish as Lily had sounded.

Lily grabbed the book, "Als!" She exclaimed, reaching for her wand. "Never mind. Scourgify," she waved her wand, sensing, rather than hearing, Alex's relief as the room became immaculate once more.

"Oh, good," she muttered, joining Lily on her bed. Bouncing with the excitement of a child with a secret they just had to share, Alex continued. "OK, so back to what I came up here for. You'll never guess what they've done now." She left no time for Lily to speak, only frown. "They've only gone and given themselves a name."

Lily's frown deepened. "Who are they?"

Alex rolled her gleeful eyes, "Duh. James and co." She was taking great care in making sure she didn't speak Sirius' name. "They've called themselves, get this; 'The Marauders'." Alex burst into fits of laughter, after a momentary pause, Lily joined in.

"They really are a bunch of…Words don't even describe." Lily breathed. Standing up, she took her letter and dragged Alex to the door.

"Where are we going?" Alex asked clueless, and more than a little surprised.

"Owlery," Lily said clearly, making a pointed effort not to look at the Marauders as they passed through the Common Room.

They were half way there when Alex asked why she needed to go with her.

"Because," answered Lily cryptically. "I have a plan to get us to stop moping. No more tears over James and Sirius. They move on, we move on."

Alex just nodded as she listened to Lily.


	7. The Plan

Lily's plan wasn't so much a plan as it was an idea she'd had with her mothers help. She had realized that the way she and Alex had reacted to seeing James and Sirius kissing other girls was quite pointless considering that the boys obviously didn't care about them that much anyway, otherwise they wouldn't have been doing it in the first place, would they?

On breaking up with Sirius, Alex had sunk into a state of depression. She didn't eat, and when she did it was the bare minimum. She barely slept; she no longer took any notice of her appearance and was, as Narcissa so elegantly put it, "a scruff and a disgrace to wizard kind."

Lily was doing a lot better than Alex, perhaps because she had never been going out with James and so never knew if he had liked her that way. If only for the time they had been together, Sirius had liked Alex, this made the whole situation harder for her, though it was still affecting Lily.

Where Alex had thrown herself at her school work and cleaning, Lily had become unfocussed. Her work didn't matter to her, and she had taken to disrupting lessons. Somehow, she hadn't got a detention yet. She had taken to comfort eating and had put on quite a bit of weight lately, though not enough to be considered "fat". She, also, had stopped looking after her appearance. Her once wild hair had become so unmanageable it was like an overgrown jungle, and the vivid red it had once held was lost.

Her mothers written words had caused her to think. What she and Alex were doing, it wasn't healthy for either of them. And at the end of the day they were the only ones who were suffering. No, they both needed to get themselves sorted, to show James and Sirius that they didn't matter. It was going to be a lot of hard work.

--------

As shocked as James had been at Alex's appearance the day before, he was, perhaps, more-so by it the next day. She and Lily had spent the evening casting spells and using muggle tricks Lily's sister had taught her before she stopped talking to her. Now, Alex's appearance had turned pretty much back to normal, and in some cases had improved.

Her face was still gaunt looking, and would be for a while, but it had a fuller, less sickle, appearance and had returned to its pale but rosy complexion. Her hair had not only achieved its sleek, shiny appearance, but Lily had cast a spell which trimmed it by two inches, changed the colour to a light chestnut and took on curls spaced evenly around her head on the top layer. Her hazel eyes, no longer sunken, shone brightly, in contrast with her hair.

He saw her first in Potions. She was sat beside Lily, who had managed to tame her hair so that it looked a lot better than it had to begin with, and who turned around as she saw him heading towards them.

Though he had given up trying to work out why it was Lily was ignoring him, he still found her dismissive behaviour odd and couldn't help but frown at her before turning to talk to Alex.

"Hi, how've you been?" he asked friendlily.

Alex looked at him and, to his great surprise, smiled.

"I'm doing good James," she said sincerely. "In fact, I'm doing great. Thanks to Sirius I've got this great new hairstyle and, oh James, guess what? I've got a new boyfriend."

James looked surprised, 'A boyfriend, already?' he thought stunned. Though this isn't what he said.

"Well that's great. Who is he?"

James frowned, "Andrews? Isn't he the guy you were flirting with? The same one you and Sirius were arguing about before you…"

"Before we split up. That's right," Alex smiled, looking truly happy at the fact.

"Oh," was all James could say. There was a moment's uncomfortable silence before he spoke about what he had actually come over for.

"We're still friends, right? Even if your not with Sir any more. I mean we have been friends for such a long time, it'd be a shame to throw it all away."

Lily turned around at this point and was giving Alex a questioning look.

Alex looked at her, and then smiled at James, hitting his shoulder playfully.

"Of course we are, silly. Why wouldn't we be?"

He smiled now, "Well, good." He turned to Lily who was still looking at Alex, her expression having changed to something unreadable. "How about you? Are we still friends?"

Lily looked at him for the first time in weeks. He couldn't help but gasp inwardly. Even at that minute, as she looked at him darkly, he could tell she was, and would grow to be more-so, beautiful in a way different to the other girls. He was reminded of seeing her two months earlier, seeing her face, liking her instantly and thinking the same thing. He didn't hear her words.

"Sorry, what?" he asked stupidly.

Lily rolled her eyes; she looked as though she wanted to kill him, but stopped when Alex shot her a glance. "I said "I don't make friends with arrogant users, so no'."

James looked surprised, 'what was she talking about?'

"Arrogant users? Lily, wha…"

He was cut off by the icy tones of Professor Jenkruss, "Mr Potter. As fascinating as it is to see you gat insulted, I do not tolerate students talking when there are potions to be making. Now kindly sit down before I am forced to deduce points."

"But, I…" He tried to object.

"Potter," she warned dropping all formalities. "Sit down, right now. In silence, and five points from Gryffindor for ignoring me."

Grumbling silently James walked to his seat, glaring at two Slytherins who were laughing at him.

"I'm going to kill them," He whispered venomously to Sirius as soon as he sat down.

"Who? Malfoy and Snape?" Sirius asked back. "Just ignore them, they're gits anyway." James nodded so Sirius continued, "What were you doing over there anyway?" He gestured his head toward where Alex and Lily were sat.

"I was just…"

"Detention Potter." Professor Jenkruss commanded.

"Finding out about Alex's new boyfriend." James continued ignoring his professor.

"Would you like that to be a week cleaning the dungeons Potter?"

James looked at her. "Huh? I mean no."

Jenkruss smiled, "Then I suggest you stay quiet."

--------

At lunch that day Alex and Lily were sat in the Great Hall.

"Don't you think you were a little hard on James before?" Alex asked Lily cautiously as she helped herself to a sandwich.

"No," Lily said disbelievingly. "What makes you think that?"

"'Arrogant users'" Alex recited mimicking Lily's tone from earlier that day.

"Oh well maybe I was, but he deserved it, and I'm not going to go easy on him."

"But Lil, he doesn't even know what he's done."

Lily sighed, "So I'm quite enjoying the thought of making his life Hell."


	8. Information on the Hogwarts Express

"Miserable bat," James said as he crashed onto his bed in the early hours of a Tuesday morning. The force at which he had slammed the dormitory door upon entering had woken his roommates up.

"Who, Jenkruss?" asked a blurry-eyed Remus.

"Yeah, she's only gone and given me _another_ detention." He sighed loudly.

"Another…" Sirius muttered, still half asleep. "James, you were _in_ detention as it was. How does someone get a detention in detention?"

Peter giggled.

"I don't know," complained James. "I was just sat there writing my lines like she told me to. The next thing I knew she'd come over and given me another detention."

Remus looked at him sceptically. "And you didn't do anything to provoke her, I suppose?"

"Of course not," he said with fake innocence. "Like I said, I was just writing -"

"What were you writing?"

"Well she told me to write 'I will be silent in lessons.' But I didn't like them so I changed them."

"To…?"

"'Professor Jenkruss should stay silent when her pupils are talking.' What?" James asked defensively at the look on his friends' faces. "I said professor."

Remus and Sirius began laughing, Peter didn't know what was so funny but not wanting to be left out joined in after a couple of minutes. They were only interrupted by Frank, their other roommate's, outburst for them to be quiet because he was trying to sleep. Or something along those lines anyway.

James wasn't the only one to get himself a detention in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Sirius managed to get himself three in Potions, two in Herbology, one in Defence against the Dark Arts and one in Transfiguration; somehow he had avoided any others. Each one was for misbehaviour or improper use of magic in some way. Peter got several in a variety of subjects, mostly for a poor display of magic, which his professors put down to laziness and unwillingness to learn. Remus had also got himself a few, though nowhere near as many as the other boys, and for completely different reasons.

At one point, just a few days before the last day of term, all the Marauders, except Remus, were called into the office of Professor Gemias.

He was an old man, and Head of Gryffindor house. He had a relaxed attitude that put his students at ease, though he managed to ensure he was always in control. Being small and overweight, only his round head showed over the top of his high table. Behind him stood a young woman who had been helping out in lessons. Her light brown hair was scooped loosely at the back of her head, and her face and eyes showed signs of humour.

"You three," Gemias said scanning a sheet of paper. "Have had more detentions in your first term than most people have in their lifetime at Hogwarts.

Sirius tried to suppress his laughter as the other two stayed quiet.

"Are you finding something funny, Mr Black?" The woman asked sternly. Something James thought to be quite hypocritical considering the look that she was finding something funny that was increasingly spreading across her face.

"No," he said, sobering up completely.

"Good," Gemias smiled. "Now, with the way you three are going you are never going to pay them off."  
James' eyes narrowed, "What are you getting at?"

Gemias smiled again, "A letter has been sent to each of your parents, informing them of my decision. Each one has consented. You will be spending your Christmas here."  
The boys gave a relieved smile before Gemias continued.

"In addition to serving your detentions, you will be helping the house elves to perform their duties and doing other tasks any professors feel suitable."

James and Sirius' faces dropped. "But you can't do that," they protested wildly.

Peter's look was one of confusion, "We have house elves?"

--------

The last day of term rolled around quickly and Lily and Alex where sat in the common room waiting to leave. Both were surprised to find the Marauders dressed in their pyjamas playing Exploding Snap.

"I thought you were going home for Christmas?" Alex asked, confused by their laid-back attitudes.

"Nope," James said. "We've got ourselves jobs."

"Jobs?" Lily asked dumbfounded.

"Yes, jobs."

They were stopped from asking anymore as Professor Gemias came into the room and announced it was time to leave.

"You three, you start now." Lily heard him say as she left the room.

--------

A couple of hours later Lily and Alex were sat in their compartment discussing Christmas plans.

Alex's mother had died soon after she was born, leaving her to be raised by her father. When she was 6 years old her father had remarried to a woman several years younger than himself and with little patience for children. The woman had developed a great resentment towards Alex for her close relationship with her father. As a result she welcomed any opportunity to stay out of the house; her step-mother urged these excursions. And so, Alex was able to take up the invitation to stay at Lily's house over Christmas.

"Well, mum likes to make a big fuss. She's like a big kid at Christmastime. We all get woken up before dawn to open presents, and we have this big meal at around midday." Lily explained cheerfully.

Alex laughed. "It sounds great, Jenny is nothing like that."

Before Lily could say anything else the compartment door opened and Alice and Marie, the other two Gryffindor first years, slid in.

"Where's Narcissa?" Alex asked as noticing one third of the usual group was missing.

"She, uh, met up with a second year Gryffindor guy. We haven't seen her since." Marie explained a look of relief on her face.

"Wow, she doesn't stick with one guy for too long, does she?" Lily asked amazed at the speed in which she was working her way through the boys at Hogwarts. "First Frank, then that third year, then James and now him; the poor thing."

"Oh no," Alice corrected. "She's not with him. She said as long as James wasn't around she might as well make the most of it."

Both Lily and Alex looked confused, the latter of who said, "But I thought they weren't going out."

"Oh, they're not," Marie admitted openly. "She's just got it into her head that they're having some kind of secret relationship he doesn't want anyone to know about. That's why he turned her down so publicly. Poor girl, she can't seem to realise when guys are giving her hints to get lost."

"Or people in general," Alice added quietly, making Marie giggle and the other two frown.

"But I thought you two were like, best friends with her or something?"

"You're kidding, right? We can't stand her. She's so self-centred; she never stops talking about herself. Seriously, we were grateful when she went off before."

"The only reason she's with us is because we promised Sirius, who's made some kind of deal with James that we'd be nice to her. She just took it the wrong way."

Now, Lily and Alex wore identical looks of shock at this revelation. Before they could say anything, though, the snack cart came by. By the time it had left Marie and Alice had moved on to another conversation.

"So, what are you getting for Christmas?" Alice asked as though their conversation had never happened.


	9. Surprising Presents

"More potatoes?" Kathryn Evans asked later that day.

"Oh, no thanks," Alex replied curtly. All feelings of shyness and nervousness were gone after she'd been welcomed into the Evans household so graciously by everyone. Well, everyone except Petunia, but Lily had warned her that she would be like that.

"So, you've always known you were a witch?" Petunia asked spitefully, deliberately emphasising the 'witch'.

Alex nodded. "Sure have, although I've never been that good at magic," she lied smoothly. "I was so glad when Lily got put in Gryffindor – our house – too. She's really helped me get better. Do you want to see?"

"No, that's okay. Maybe later," Petunia looked absolutely petrified.

Alex smiled, "Of course. Just tell me when." Lily smiled at her in a laughing way.

"So, Lily's good at magic then?" Jack Evans asked, sensing trouble.

Lily blushed as Alex spoke.

"She sure is. She did this," she pulled at her hair gently. "And this is 6th year Transfiguration work."

"Wow," Kathryn gasped. "That's fantastic sweetie," she continued, patting her daughters' hand.

Lily beamed. "It wasn't that hard, really." She said modestly. "And I had a lot of help in Transfiguration off James Potter during my first month there."

Kathryn raised her eyebrows, "Ah, James. Is he still an arrogant bully?"

The answers were contradicting.

"No," was Alex's reply.

"Yes," was Lily's.

Kathryn and Jack laughed.

"He's that good, eh?" Jack asked.

"Your family's great, Lil." Alex told her that night as they prepared for bed. "Well, mostly. I'm not too sure about Petunia."

Lily laughed.

"No, I mean it. Thanks for inviting me."

"Well of course," Lily said hugging her. "It was my mum's idea, though."

"Still, thanks. It beats spending a not-so Merry Christmas with Dad and Jenny, or the whole two weeks with the Marauders and their 'jobs'."

Lily grinned evilly. "Yeah, I heard someone on the train saying they had to work off all the detentions they've received."

"Really? They'll be working for a long time."

They both laughed and stayed up most of the night talking.

--------

Apart from a few older students, the Marauders were the only Gryffindors to stay at Hogwarts during the Christmas holidays. They were also the only ones to be woken up at 5 o'clock on the first official day of holidays. A pair of round eyes and oversized bat-like ears in their faces declaring it was time for "Sirs to get up and do some work. Now." Was not what they expected.

Groaning the boys did as instructed and got ready for their first day of work. It was harder than any had thought, and the three, that is James, Sirius and Peter, were quite relieved to get back to the common room.

"Hard day?" Remus asked lightly as the three collapsed into chairs and groaned.

"It was horrible," was Peter's squeaky, whined complaint.

"I've never done so much work in my life," was Sirius' muffled answer from the many cushions his face was buried in.

Remus laughed at them. "I can't believe you thought they'd go easy on you. What did you have to do?"

"We've helped cook every meal you've eaten today -"

"I thought it tasted a bit funny," Remus commented, easily avoiding the weak and poorly aimed pillow from Sirius.

"- And then washed all the dishes used. How house elves do that every day I don't know," Sirius began before being interrupted by Peter.

"Arboyle had us cleaning the trophy room five times, the muggle way. And then, to top it off, Jenkruss had us restock all her supplies."

"That wasn't too bad, though." Sirius remarked thoughtfully.

Peter looked at him as though he were crazy. "What? All those different organs and things and you think it wasn't that bad?"

"Oh, shush, Peter. You spent all your time drooling over Jenkruss anyway." Peter blushed as Sirius said this. "And anyway, it means James and I don't have to do it in detention now. She'll only give us lines or something. Speaking of which, James, we have to go."

There was no reply and all three turned to look, seeing James asleep.

"Aww, how sweet." Sirius joked before picking up another cushion, this time throwing it at James' head.

James jumped startled, his glasses falling off. "Huh?" he grunted sleepily.

Sirius picked up his glasses for him. "We've got detention with Jenkruss."

James stood grudgingly. "Who decides to let their children do work and detention during their holidays. It's crazy," he complained.

"Oh, come on. At least we don't have to restock again." Sirius said pushing him towards the portrait.

"No, we'll probably have to clean all the burnt, potion encrusted apparatus," James complained, still tired. "Bye guys," he called before going through the portrait. His guess was right.

--------

Christmas came early for the boys. The hard work, early mornings and late nights became a matter of for them. So, naturally, they were up early on the 25th, it wasn't just because they had presents to open (Honest). James was up first. He left his friends asleep, figuring they could do with it. But upon entering the common room and seeing the masses of presents that nicety was forgotten. He ran back upstairs throwing pillows, stealing blankets and shouting "Presents!" as loud as he could.

Not long after the four boys were satin their dormitory with still-wrapped presents around them (They had carried their piles up and mixed them all together to add to the surprise). It took the little time to open them all but amid the mess of wrapping paper and gift tags, presents could be seen. There were the normal gifts; clothes, sweets, letters from family members, as well as the more personal ones from parents.

Remus received a selection of books based on defence magic and several sheets of personalised parchment with gold engraved "R.L." in the upper-left corner. There was also a selection of multicoloured inks and a brand new quill. Peter received a photo of his family in an ornate wooden frame. His parents smiled at him and waved, while his own face grinned stupidly, a fact which Peter seemed to find highly amusing. His friends, however, were more surprised by how Peter-like it really was. It was no surprise to them when Peter had managed to break the glass of his frame within 5 minutes. Nor was it a surprise when his attempt at restoring it resulted in a ball of glass, all the sharper points sticking out. Remus had had to repair it for him.

Sirius' present was slightly more than he had expected off his parents, though he suspected this was more a result of his brother Regulus than his parents' care for him. Sirius' opposing attitudes to those of his parents had often led to fights and arguments within the Black household. It had also developed into an uncaring attitude between parents and child. He did, however, have a close relationship with Regulus, which is why he suspected that this present may have been specially picked by him more-so than his parents.

He opened the wrapping to reveal a royal blue, velvet-like covered book with leather binding and gold embossed pages.

"They bought you a book?" Peter squeaked confusedly. "Boy, your parents don't know you very well, do they?"

James hit him hard over the head with Peter's frame at this statement. The glass shattered once more and no-one made an attempt to help clean it up. James did aggressively warn, "Shut up, Peter," though.

Sirius ignored this as he turned the book over to reveal its title; _The Magic of Mayhem: An Artists Guide to Detecting Secrets. _Flicking through the pages, he grinned. "This is awesome. Good old Reg, he always knows the best things to buy."

James' present was one he wasn't even aware he'd received until his hand fell on a thin piece of paper that felt like it was hiding something.

"Hey, what's this?" he'd asked as he carefully peeled back the paper.

There was a chorus of gasps as he revealed a thin, flowing, shimmering material.

"That's not a…"

"It must be…"

"Where'd that come from?"

James grinned as he read the card concealed within it.

"It was my dads. He says he wanted to give it to me before I left but mum was keeping a close eye on it. Instead he decided to wait until she let up on it. By the time she did he figured it would make a good Christmas present."

"He was right," Remus said stunned.

Sirius breathed audible shock. "You mean your dad has had an invisibility cloak all this time and didn't think to tell us? Man, that's just wrong."

James grinned at him. "But now we can try it out tonight." The smiles on the four boys' faces grew at that thought.

--------

Despite Lily's prediction that her mother would be the first one up on Christmas morning, it was in fact, Alex who was first awake, with Lily as a close second. They sat downstairs talking when her mother did come down, eager to open presents.

"Hello girls. Are you excited?" Kathryn asked, unnaturally cheerful for the early hour.

"Some of us more than others," Lily muttered darkly with matching eyes as she glowered at Alex.

Kathryn smiled, Alex laughed and Lily continued to glare.

Less than half-an-hour later Alex, Lily and her family were sat in the lounge, opening presents. Alex's father had taken the courtesy to send her presents to Lily's house by WizExpress (The Wizarding World's version of overnight delivery). She had to admit that she was surprise by the thought that had gone into them.

"Obviously Jenny's glad I got out of the house so she sent me some good presents," she was to remark bitterly to Lily before going to bed later that day.

Lily and Alex had exchanged their presents before anyone else was up. Alex had received a green, denim-looking jacket with red trim and buttons. It was personalised with the name "Alex" on the upper left pocket. Lily had received a muggle book. It was a book about the different myths and legends of different cultures. Both were happy with their presents and were getting happier and happier with each new present they opened. Finally each one was opened, with the exception of a small gift, wrapped in gold foil paper, unlike the paper any of the other gifts had been in.

"Lily? This ones for you, too." Jack told the grinning girl, who now looked surprised.

"What? But I thought I had all my presents," she stated dumbly as she accepted the present.

Everyone in the household watched her with silent anticipation as she carefully peeled back the shiny foil to reveal a small wooden box. It was only 1.5 cm think, 4 cm wide and 6 cm long, but it somehow managed to conceal a drawer. Opening it gingerly, everyone, Lily included, was amazed to see the plain box transform into a plain wooden jewellery box with three drawers; each with carved metal handles, and a lift up lid containing glass in a heart shape. There was a pattern on the glass; stained glass in the shape of a Lily. Lying delicately in the drawer was a silver charm bracelet.

The room gasped as she pulled it out. Fine linked and with just three charms, an "L", a lily and a four-leaved clover, the bracelet glimmered in the light.

"You didn't buy me this, did you?" she guessed at the shocked look on her parents' faces. They both shook their heads at her question. The look on both Petunia's and Alex's faces, similar to that of Kathryn and Jack's, told her neither of them had bought it either. Not that she really thought they had.

"The box is from the Wizarding World," Alex told her enviously. "I've seen one before, in a really expensive shop. There were only about 10 of them ever made, and they stopped being sold about 8 years ago."

The puzzle of who had bought it stayed with her through the rest of the day. She knew before Alex even told her, that it was from the Wizarding World, by the way it transformed back into the small box when the drawer was closed. But apart from that she had no idea who it could be off.


	10. What Happened To You?

The Marauders used James' invisibility cloak every time they got the chance. This, in the week between Christmas and New Year, wasn't as much as they'd have liked. They had only used it three times, each time discovering secret passages. A total of 16 passages in a week did not seem to satisfy them, though. So on New Years Eve, as the other three were about to leave for yet another detention, Remus' question received a warm response.

"Can I use your cloak?" he asked as they were about to leave. "I'll be careful. I've been reading about where you can find –"

"Say no more, Remus. You want to help us, we willingly oblige," came James' answer. He assumed Remus was talking about secret passages and was only too grateful to accept his offer.

"Oh, thanks," Remus said. Though he had a sense of why James was so willing, he didn't bother to correct him. He didn't really have chance, the cloak was thrown over him almost immediately after.

"We'll be back around two, so make sure you are, too." James ordered before leaving.

--------

At quarter to two, the Marauders returned to their dormitory. Tired and in desperate need of sleep, they didn't find it strange that the invisibility cloak was folded neatly on James' bed whilst Remus was nowhere to be found. Nor did they realise that he was missing the next morning. In fact, the realisation did not occur until the next evening when James and Sirius were playing what seemed like a never ending game of Wizarding Chess to Peter, who was getting more and more bored by the minute, to even notice he wasn't around.

"Has anyone seen Remus?" Peter asked by way of trying to get involved in some kind of activity with his idols.

James looked up after completing a move. "Not since last night. Sir, have you seen him?"

"Ha-ha, checkmate," Sirius bellowed around the room as James' pieces crashed angrily onto the board. He looked at the questioning looks on James and Peter's faces and his happiness dissolved slightly. "What?" he asked dumbly.

"Have you seen Remus?" Peter repeated in a slow voice.

Sirius answered, seemingly unfazed but with a quick glare at Peter that only James noticed. "Oh, no, I haven't." He didn't seem that concerned by Remus' disappearance.

James rolled his eyes at him. "I'll be back soon," he told them before leaving.

An hour later he returned.

"Did you find him?" Peter asked urgently.

"Not exactly," was James' anxious response. "I spoke to that woman. You know, the one who hangs out with Gemias –"

"McGonagall?"

"Yeah, her. And she said 'Mr Lupin had an unfortunate accident last night,'" James quoted in McGonagall's Scottish tones. "He'll be in the Hospital Wing for the next few days and isn't permitted visitors."

Sirius went from bored to interest to concern during the course of the conversation. "He's going to be in there for longer?" he asked disbelievingly.

"It must have been bad," Peter stated obviously.

"Well, duh!" James said looking at him with a mix of awe at how stupid he could be and worry at what he said being true. There was also a glint in his eye that Sirius knew only too well.

"When?" he asked James eagerly as a bewildered Peter listened to James' answer.

--------

Stowing the invisibility cloak they had used to conceal themselves under Sirius' pyjama top (He was the broadest of the three so the bulge was less obvious), the three boys crept into the Hospital Wing. Even in the darkness, the stark white walls seemed to illuminate, showing them Remus' section of the Wing. There were only three occupied beds; one contained a girl whose fever was so high she was having delusion nightmares. Another contained a boy in his final year sleeping peacefully. Around him, though, lay many discarded tissues and cold water bottles.

"Eww," Peter had whispered disgustedly, bringing sharp "Shh's" as a reply.

The third bed was set away from these two patients. Thick curtains were drawn and where they met they seemed to be sealed. There was a crease in the curtain, which showed obvious evidence of a door. Cautiously, James opened it; Peter's words "It must have been bad," echoing in his head.

Three heads peered anxiously at the doorway, looking in but seeing no traces of anyone. It was only at examining the nearest, inner corner intently that they could make out the shape of a small boy lying curled up, shaking and trying to make himself unseen.

Sirius made to make a move when he, and the other two, were pulled back by a strong, invisible force. Turning around, that force became visible, in the shape of an angry looking man.

"Doctor Nedalski, we were just –" Peter began in his nervous squeak.

"I am not blind, I can see what you were just. That, however, is not the point. I do believe you were told that visiting Mr Lupin was out of the question. And yet, here you are, in the wee hours of the morning, sneaking through those curtains."

"We just wanted to see our friend," James protested, more than a little fazed.

"Mr Lupin," Doctor Nedalski said in a snide tone. "Will be out of hospital in a couple of day's time. You can see him then. Now, out." He commanded quietly but with an authority that made them obey.

--------

A couple of days passed and Remus didn't return. In fact, despite their numerous attempts to sneak into the Hospital Wing, which had become out of bounds to students staying over the holidays, the boys did not see Remus again until the first day of the new term. By this time everyone had returned to Hogwarts and lessons had started, so they didn't get speak to him until their lunch break.

James and Sirius were loading their plates with mountains of food when Remus came into the Great Hall. With their concentration trained on their food Peter was the one to see him. His waving and shouting drew a stunned James and Sirius' attention.

"Remus over here," was Peter's squeaking before he saw Remus up-close. Then it was more the shocked whisper of "Merlin. You look terrible."

Despite his usual paleness and sunken eyes, it was obvious there was something wrong with Remus. He was, if possible, a paler shade than usual, the yellowness gone so that he looked more like a sheet. His eyes, as well as being sunken, looked more tired, pained and hidden than usual. Scratches and bruises littered his face and neck, presumably his robes his any more. The sight made Sirius and James choke on the food crammed into their mouths.

"Thanks, Pete," he muttered hoarsely. "It's great that you feel the need to sugar coat these things."

Peter looked confused. "But I didn't."

Everyone but him rolled their eyes. Sirius, recovering first, hit him before speaking. "Seriously Rem, are you alright?"

Remus took a sip of drink, wincing slightly before answering. "I'm fine. I just…Would you believe I got into a fight?" There was a hope in his voice that they would.

"With who?" asked a stunned James. "Hagrid?"

Remus laughed forcedly. "Something like that." He looked around nervously and uncomfortably. "I've got to go. Dumbledore want to see me." He was up and gone before they even had time to say goodbye.

--------

"Will you hurry up?" Lily asked Alex irritably. After having finally managed to prise herself away from Jacob, Alex seemed to be taking as long as she possibly could to get to History of Magic. Not that Lily blamed her, Professor Binns was one of their more boring teachers, but they were already 10 minutes late.

"I'm trying," Alex argued. "I don't know why you're in such a rush to get there anyway. He's already bored himself to death. Why would you want him to do the same to us?"

Lily giggled. "He's not that bad," she lied. "And anyway, I want to get there because of…Remus."

"You want to see Lupin?" Alex asked surprised.

"No, silly," Lily said though she was blushing somewhat. "Remus is over there." She pointed to the boy as he turned a corner.

He, too, looked like he was headed for History of Magic. The girls chased after him. Remus was never late for lessons; they wanted to know what made this so special. They didn't get a chance though.

"Hey," Lily called, making him stop and turn around. The smile he put on when he saw them vanished as he saw the looks on their faces.

"What happened to you?" Alex asked tactlessly.

"I-uh-had an accident on a broom over Christmas," he muttered looking at his feet.

She seemed to accept this; Lily, though, was looking at him disbelievingly.

"Anyway," he continued hastily, seeing her expression. "What are you doing out of lessons?"

They had begun walking by now.

"Oh, Alex was with Andrews," Lily answered scornfully.

"Ah," Remus responded with a smile as though it all made sense. "I take it things are going well there then?"

Alex nodded. "They're fine. I'm breaking up with him though."

This was news to Lily, who looked more disbelieving than Remus at this statement. "What? Why?"

Alex shrugged. "I don't know. He's just not as exciting as I hoped he'd be."

While Remus looked thoughtful, Lily couldn't get over her shock. But as they entered the History of Magic class room to find they had lost points for their tardiness, and with the threat of detention for anymore disturbances hanging over her, she couldn't press the subject further.


	11. Sorting out Relationships

"Do you still like Alex?" Remus asked suddenly that weekend. He, Sirius and Peter where sat in the Gryffindor common room.

Sirius looked surprised at the randomness of this question. "I guess. I don't hate her anyway. Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing. It was just something she was saying the other day," Remus said cryptically. On seeing Sirius' look he clarified. "I was talking to her and Lily when she said she was going to dump Andrews because he was too boring for her."

Sirius looked at him. "So, she likes exciting guys, big deal. There are lots of them here. Me, you, James…I can't think of anyone else off the top of my head."

"Hey!" Peter cried offended.

"Sorry mate," Sirius said. "But you're just not as interesting as the rest of us."

Peter glared at him, deciding against saying anything he muttered "Whatever." Following it up with "And anyway, James has already got a girlfriend."

"What?" Sirius and Remus asked simultaneously.

"Yeah," Peter said as though it were common knowledge. "He's going out with your cousin."

"Since when?" Asked a stunned Sirius.

"November."

"Bloody hell."

--------

Lily and Alex were up their dormitory discussing Alex's sudden change of heart (Lily trying, and failing, to persuade Alex to stay with Jacob) when Marie rushed in.

"Oh, guess what?" she interrupted coolly

Both girls looked at her expectantly.

"Narcissa wasn't lying."

"About what?" Lily asked irritably.

"When she said she was going out with James."

"And why would that bother us?" Alex asked, genuinely wondering.

Marie paused before speaking. "Well I thought – Never mind, obviously I was wrong."

"Yes, but about what?" Alex asked exasperatedly.

"Oh, nothing," she answered in her annoying 'I know something' tone. Then she gave up seeing Alex and Lily's faces. "I just thought you'd be a bit more interested that the guy you like is seeing someone you hate." She was looking directly at Lily who began laughing.

"Don't be dense. I don't like James, at all, let alone like that. And as for Narcissa; I hardly know her. I couldn't possibly hate someone I don't know.

"That's not what I heard."

Lily raised an eyebrow but said nothing, she didn't have a chance; Alex cut in.

"Well you've heard wrong. She likes someone, but not James."

Marie's interest was peaked. "Oh, who?" She asked as Narcissa entered the room.

"Remus," Alex answered with a smile.

"I do not!" Lily cried defensively, though she was blushing.

Marie simply asked "Really?" in a surprised tone, to which Alex nodded.

Narcissa, who had been listening from before she even entered the room, spun from her wardrobe. "You like Remus?" she gushed. "Well that's great. How about I ask Jamesy-kins to talk to him for you?" She smiled at the thought, already heading for the door.

"No!" But Lily's protests fell on deaf ears. She turned to Alex. "I'm going to kill you," she threatened venomously. Here she got ignored, too.

Alex was fighting back laughter. "Jamesy-kins," she muttered before releasing it, causing the other two to laugh too.

--------

The next couple of weeks passed fairly easy for our group of first-years. Alex was trying to summon, quite literally, the courage to break it off with Jacob. James and Narcissa's relationship had become public knowledge, despite James' protests. Remus was recovering well. His bruises were fading fast and there were no traces of cuts on him. Sirius had managed to break yet another heart. He seemed to be going for a record of at least one girlfriend per month. Something he was managing to do pretty well so far. Narcissa, apparently, wasn't going through with her "oh-so pleasant" volunteering to help Lily get noticed by Remus. A fact which Lily was quite happy with, given that she was happy in a relationship with John Burton, a first-year Ravenclaw. Before they knew it January was drawing to a close and the time came for the first Quidditch game of the season. Knowing nothing of the game, and it not being a Gryffindor match (so feeling no compulsion to be there), Lily sat in the library doing homework. It was empty aside from her, so naturally the noises she heard from the Restricted Section made her investigate.

"Remus? What are you doing here?"

Remus jumped. "Merlin, Lily. I thought everyone was at Quidditch."

She giggled. "Sorry. I just heard noises and…What are you doing here?" she asked again.

Remus was doing some quick thinking, she could tell. "It's hard to do reading with the guys around, you know? And besides, I'm not that big a fan of Quidditch. It seemed like the perfect opportunity."

"Oh," Lily said looking at him for a moment too long. Recovering herself she said, "Well I'll be over there if you want me."

Remus said nothing; he just nodded, so Lily went back to her work. An hour later she was in desperate need of a break and was surprised to find Remus still there.

"You know," she said, making him jump again. "As fun as books can be, it's not good to spend your whole day with them. What's so fascinating anyway?"

"The same could be said for you," Remus remarked at her tired-looking expression.

She smiled. "Yes, but I'm taking a break. You want to come with?"

He smiled back. "Sure." He put the book back on the shelf. Lily couldn't help but read the words 'Determining Danger' but she made no comment about them.

The two walked in silence, with no particular destination. It was only when they were both sat in the Gryffindor Common Room that they began talking.

"So," Remus started nervously. "I think I should tell you something."

Lily looked at him with interest. "Yes?"

"Well, uh, Narcissa spoke to me the other day."

Lily's interest vanished to be replaced by a mix of embarrassment and annoyance.

"And she was saying…" he continued.

Lily looked down at the floor, 'Oh here we go,' she thought miserably. "Just forget what she said, alright? She was just trying to wind me up, and I have a boyfriend anyway."

Remus nodded. "Well that's good because there's too much going on with me right now for me to want a girlfriend." He looked at her; her eyes were still cast downwards. "But if I did, you'd definitely be in the list," he continued, taking her hand.

She looked at him now, laughing, her eyes, she hoped, were unreadable. "Thanks, 'in the list', makes me feel special." She remarked sarcastically. Cheers sounded through the open window making her look at the time. "Oh," she said standing up but forgetting to release his hand. "I need to get back to the library."

She went to move but got pulled back. She giggled nervously as she realised. Letting go she walked away, unsure whether she heard or imagined the words "You should." Either way they kept her in a daze as she made her way towards the library, fighting with the currents of people. She barely remembered John hugging her celebratory and claiming "We won, Lils. Ravenclaw won 250 to 120." Or her kissing him and passing on her congratulations.

--------

As the week went by the homework piled up once again. Lily would have given up on it completely if she hadn't seen that James was struggling to keep on top of it more than she was. This gleeful thought made her continue to struggle on, just so she could beat him in this imaginary competition he knew nothing about. Not only was she winning, but she was getting top marks too. Well, nearly. She was failing miserably in Herbology and all though she didn't mind much, "It's such a boring subject. Why would anyone want to know all about plants?" Her professor did.

"Miss Evans, could you stay behind please?" Professor Lepton asked after the last Herbology lesson of the month.

Ignoring the raised eyebrows of her friends, the questioning look from Alex and glaring at the "Ooh, someone's in trouble," form the Marauders, Lily did as was asked.

"Yes, professor?" she asked sweetly.

He frowned at her. "Miss Evans, you appear to be failing in this lesson. With a 92% average in your first month, slipping to a 34% average after five just isn't acceptable. Especially when this is compared with the 90 plus in your other lessons." He paused for breath so Lily took her chance.

"I know I'm doing badly, professor. But I really think that –"

"Quiet," Lepton ordered. "I will not tolerate such low results from such an able student. Now, whether your bad grades are due to a lack of interest in the subject, an inability to focus on Herbologys true meaning or just sheer laziness I do not know. But I do know a way to solve the problem. As of next month you will spend Tuesdays and Thursdays being tutored by Mr Lupin."

Lily was stunned. "You mean I'm getting mentored? By Remus?" Her heart very nearly stopped. "But Professor –"

"No buts, Miss Evans. My decision is final. Good day to you," he said by way of showing the conversation had ended.

She left with a short but curt "'Bye". As she walked to Transfiguration she was muttering curses under her breath, hoping to find one she could use on Lepton that she would get away with. Her thoughts were interrupted only by her near-collision with Remus.

"Talking to yourself is a sign of madness you know." He said grinning at her.

She ignored him and continued walking.

"Hey" Lily wait," he called chasing after her. She didn't stop but she did slow down. Walking next to her he said, "So I guess Lepton told you then?" She grumbled something he took to be a "yes". He sighed. "Well, I have to say, I'm looking at the plus side of it." She grumbled something again but gave him a questioning look. He nudged her slightly. "I get to spend more time with you."

She looked at him properly for the first time, smiling but hiding her shock at his rough sickly appearance. "Cute," she commented. Then continuing in a less-than interested voice she asked when they started.

His eyes darkened. "Well I have to go home for a few days. My dad had an accident and I need to help my mum look after him. We can start when I get back though, okay?"

She nodded as they entered Transfiguration.

"Ah, Mr Lupin, you found her, good. Now will you both take your seats so I can begin my lesson?" Gemias commanded as soon as they stepped through the door.


	12. Remus' Lies

The Marauders were in their dormitory that evening. Though their intention was to help Remus pack for his going away, they were more a hindrance. Just as Remus was getting fed up of their behaviour Frank Longbottom came in.

"Have you seen it?" he asked, hints of shock and amazement in his voice.

His entrance brought a welcome distraction from packing for James and Sirius, Peter, obviously, followed their lead. Remus was eternally grateful for this so asked "Saw what?" as a way of keeping them interested.

"That…that tree. If you can call it a tree," he gasped dramatically. "The thing nearly ripped my arm off, look." He pulled his sleeve up to reveal a bruise and a scratch.

"Oh, it must have been terrible!" Sirius commented sarcastically.

"It was. There I was minding my own business when that tree, which I have never seen before today, takes a swing at me."

The boys were laughing by now. "Of course it did Longbottom."

"It did," he sounded so insistent, so certain.

James grinned. "Well maybe we should go take a look at this tree. What do you say guys?"

Sirius was about to reply when Remus cried "No!" panicky, making the others look at him.

"Well you can't," he amended. "What if it is as dangerous as Frank said?"

Sirius grinned. "More fun."

Remus looked around desperately. "Well you're supposed to be helping me pack."

James raised an eyebrow. "Oh please. We haven't done one thing to help you since we set foot in here. Now stop being such a spoilsport, we'll be back soon."

Too excited in the idea of what lay ahead, only Peter heard him say "I hope," and being Peter he was too stupid to work out its hidden meaning, or to even ask about it.

They returned with matching looks of shock. Remus was gone by this time and so could not put a halt to their plans. And though they tried, the girls couldn't seem to convince them that their vendetta on a tree was pointless.

"But it's not just any tree," Sirius protested. "It's the _Whomping Willow_," he stressed the nickname to them as though it meant something.

"You named the tree?" Lily asked in disbelief.

"Well yeah," Peter squeaked. "Because it's a willow tree and it, well, whomps people –"

"Yes, thank you." Lily snapped, annoyed that he thought it needed explaining, to her of all people. She had been overly defensive when people started explaining things to her lately.

"Ooh, that was a little touchy Lily," James remarked.

"Well then I guess I'm touchy," she retorted. "But it sure beats being a dumb toad who thinks its fun to wage a war on a _tree_."

"It's not just any tree, it's the –"

"Whomping Willow, yes I know." She sighed as she stood up. "That doesn't make it any less of a ridiculous idea, though." She headed to the portrait, surprised to find she was followed by Alex, Marie and Alice. "Oh, and Potter?" James looked up frowning, not used to her calling him this. "It's Evans to you." With that she left.

Sirius began laughing. "I think someone's still annoyed with you, mate."

--------

Remus returned a few days later, and with it came extra Herbology lessons for Lily. Her twice weekly lessons weren't as bad as she thought they'd be, and she actually found she was enjoying herself. Not that she was going to admit it too easily.

"So, same time next week?" Lily asked as Remus began gathering his books. It was the Thursday of their third week.

He nodded before remembering something. "Oh, no. Wait, I can't do next week. The week after though, sure."

Lily looked at him. "What are you doing next week?" she asked casually but was aware of the disappointment that was entering her voice.

"Oh, er…You remember I said my uncle was ill?" Lily nodded. "Well he died. I have to go to his funeral."

"Oh, Remus. I'm so sorry."

He smiled weakly.

They walked silently back to the common room. It was only a week later as Lily was doing her Herbology homework and the conversation replayed in her head that Lily realised she'd been lied to.

--------

Weeks went by, and soon a couple of months had passed. It appeared Lily had managed to convince Alex to stay with Jacob, a fact Alex was glad for, though she refused to tell Lily. The passing months also meant that Remus would, every so often, miss a week of extra lessons. And though he would give her excuses, that she was fast learning to be lies every time, Lily was no closer to finding a reason. That is, until the one day at the end of March.

It was a Saturday so Lily was sat on the grounds reading a book when John came and spoke to her.

"Did you see the sky last night?" he asked her as he sat down, kissing her cheek as he did so.

She smiled at him. "Oh, hey. No, why?" she questioned, putting her book aside.

"Well it was really clear except for the moon, which was so close it felt like you could touch it."

"Really? Cool," She didn't know why, but something started working at the back of her mind.

They got involved in several discussions. John was laughing at a tale of something that had happened during a Potions lesson when it all clicked in Lily's head.

"Did you say it was a full moon last night?" she asked urgently.

He frowned at her. "Well, no, but yes it was."

Excitement shot through her as she grabbed her book and began racing to the castle shouting "I'll see you later," to a confused John.

--------

She never did explain to John, she didn't see him to tell him. She spent the next couple of weeks either pouring through the textbooks she owned, or in the library looking through books there. She even managed to get herself into the restricted section by getting a job assisting in the library. She found she quite enjoyed this job so kept with it, even after she'd found what she was looking for.

Checking the dates one last time, Lily broached the subject.

"Were not having a class next week, are we?" she asked Remus as he was clearing away. "Or at the end of May, beginning of June."

Remus shook his head but continued, for a couple of seconds at least. Then he spun round so fast Lily was amazed he didn't fall over. "How did you know that?" he asked, forgetting for a minute that he was supposed to deny it.

"Lucky guess," she shrugged. Her eyes shining, she spoke again. "So I was right? You really are a were –"

Remus stared at her as she spoke before cutting in. "Yes, it's true. Now, shh. I don't want everyone knowing."

She looked embarrassed. "Sorry, I just…Well, I've never met someone like you before."

He nodded about to say something when her arms went around him, hugging him tightly. "I won't tell anyone," she whispered in his ear.

She didn't realise that John was stood outside, watching through a window.

--------

She spent the next week fascinated by Remus' tale of how he had gone into the Forbidden Forest on New Years Eve and was bitten. She listened to his accounts of what he remembered happening on his transformation nights. She also heard of how he had read of other werewolves who were shunned by the outside world in their human form. Because of this he didn't want anyone knowing, especially not his friends. Though she thought the Marauders would be fine with it, and that Remus himself would be better off with them knowing, she respected his wishes and kept his secret quiet. But this came with a price.

"I don't want to see you anymore," John told her while she was working in the library.

"What?" she asked stunned, dropping a pile of books and earning a severe look of disapproval from Madam Pince. "But why?"

He bent down with the pretence of helping her pick them up, but in actual fact he was just whispering in her ear. "I don't like being made a fool of. And having your girlfriend cheat on you kind of undermines that."

Lily looked at him. "But I haven't been…With whom?"

"Lupin," he spat.

Lily couldn't help it, she began laughing hysterically. Whether this was at the idea of going out with Remus or at John's belief she wasn't sure, but he took it as an admission of guilt. Glaring he said "Goodbye Lily," and stormed out.

Lily continued laughing, simply because if she stopped she knew she was going to cry. When she finally got it out of her system, Madam Pince advised Lily that it was best she didn't return tomorrow as she obviously didn't respect "what a library is all about." For the second time that year, Lily cried herself to sleep.


	13. End of first year

Remus was quite relieved that Lily had found out he was a werewolf. He didn't like lying, and though only one person now knew, the fact that she was so understanding and still around for him made it a whole lot easier to deal with. He did consider telling his fellow Marauders, but decided he wasn't ready for that just yet, not with the way they were behaving. With the New Year had come a new purpose for them. Not only were they dedicated in their exploration of the castle and their quest to get into as much trouble as possible, but now they had taken to cursing people whenever they thought they could get away with it. And by "they" it is obviously meant to mean James and Sirius.

So now, as June approached, Remus was left to trust one person with his secret, whilst dealing with it himself, trying to think of plausible excuses for his absences _and_ find time to study for his end of year tests. A lot for a 12 year-old to cope with, and yet, he managed.

--------

Though studying was not a high priority for the first-years, with the exception of Lily and Remus, most did accept that it was important for the older years that had NEWTS and OWLS. This, of course, was correct for all but 4 boys who had been banned from the common room for their loud behaviour and from the library as a precaution. Though Sirius was quick to point out that banning them from the library was quite pointless as none knew where it was, and even if they had, they wouldn't have set foot in there anyway. Despite this, they still managed to cause chaos and disruption for the other students.

They were often seen running away from classrooms or waiting to watch as people stood in invisible puddles that turned their hair purple and skin turquoise. They even managed to make trouble in the common room the night before all tests and exams were due to start. This came in the form of buzzers that blared the loudest, most annoying sounds every time somebody sat down. There was also the introduction of a poltergeist usually found at the Black residence, which caused general disruption by altering notes and turning pages in unattended books.

Arboyle had been most upset when it was decided they would, once again, be made to help the house elves and have supervised revision evenings until the end of the year as a punishment. He would have preferred a more severe, but unfortunately for him, banned punishment using the chains in his office. The boys themselves were quite grateful. Having already done this work during their holidays they knew what to expect. They also knew that compared to some punishments, the revision classes were fairly and so didn't complain.

All lessons had split their first-year exams into two halves; a practical which would last anywhere between 15 minutes to 2 hours depending on the subject, and a written section, each one lasting for the duration of 1 hour 30 minutes. Their first exam was for Transfiguration. For their practical they were to turn an animal into a goblet and then back again. Though this was a short exam, there were close to 100 students taking it, each one singularly, so it took near enough the whole morning to do. This provided students with the opportunity to talk about their accomplishment in the test, do last minute studying for that afternoons test, Defence against the Dark Arts, or to take the more sensible approach of relaxing and eating some lunch. Not many did this, but among the few who did were, non-surprisingly, the Marauders.

"You know," Sirius said with a mouthful of food, expertly avoiding spraying food on everyone. "I don't know what people get so stressed about. That was easy."

There was a general murmur of consent from the other three boys, though Peter flushed slightly.

"Yeah," James agreed. "If they're all like that we'll walk them." Only it sounded nothing like this as his mouth was crammed with more food than Sirius'. It was all he could do not to spray food everywhere.

Three heads turned to look at him. "Chew, swallow and then speak." Remus advised. James did, and then repeated himself, earning laughter from Lily who was sat close-by.

"Is something funny, Evans?" James asked with a pointed glare.

"Yes," she answered simply as she continued eating.

After a few disappointing moments of waiting for her to continue, the boys grew impatient. All she was doing was eating and every-so-often turning a page in the book she was reading, which, surprisingly, wasn't a school textbook.

"Well are you going to tell us?" James asked with interest.

She looked up at the four expectant faces sighing. "Tell you what?"

"What's so funny," Sirius said exasperatedly.

"Oh that," she giggled again. "Well, I was just wondering how you can possibly think you're going to pass your exams if you can't even remember how to eat properly."

James looked at her as though she were crazy, as did Sirius. Peter's look was more one that said he was trying to work this out. While Remus sat behind them quietly, his lip twitching.

"Well obviously he has a different brain to control that," Peter stated the first thing that came into his head.

James and Sirius literally span to stare open-mouthed at Peter's stupidity. He, however, took it to be a look of awe at his infinite wisdom. This, combined with his inability to detect the heavy sarcasm when Lily said "Yeah, that's it," explained the look of intense smugness at getting something right for once. Remus began to grin a smile that turned into wholehearted laughter as Lily whispered "Two of a kind," to him as she left.

The rest of the tests passed just as easily for some, and more difficult for others. Their hardest was the written portion of the Potions. Apparently Jenkruss thought it would be fun to put OWL level questions on the paper. Lily, being such an over-achiever, found this quite easy. She struggled when it came to Herbology, though even she admitted it was easier than she had expected it to be. Still, the first-years got through it, most learning that next year they should be more eager to start their revision. Not that they were going to follow their own advice.

--------

To their dismay, the week after tests were finished first-years were made to go back to lessons. The response to their protests was that technically they still had things to learn for future years and so their education would not stop.

Soon though the last week of their first year came and, as a reward, students were given it free. For the Marauders this meant that they had the opportunity to do a few more practical jokes. They were becoming more and more extravagant, as though they hoped that these pranks would keep them in people's minds so they weren't forgotten over the summer. Lily and Alex, sometimes joined by Alice and Marie, used their week for packing and that age-old activity enjoyed by all; sun-bathing.

Their last day was spent having a farewell dinner in the Great Hall. It was a grand meal with hundreds of different kinds of food and drink. The boys were in Heaven. The high ceiling showed clear blue skies and a bright sun outside. The girls couldn't wait to get outside and spend one last day relaxing. Needless to say, all eight of them were annoyed when Dumbledore stood up to talk after the feast was over.

"And so we come to the end of another year," he said with smiles at the students who cheered. "And I am sure that we have all learnt things we didn't know before." His twinkling eyes flickered from the Marauders to Lily and back again briefly. "And we have all growth not only physically, but mentally and emotionally, also. I hope that we do not forget such lessons. They will help us become the people we are born to be.

"And so, before my final speech, I move onto the cups. With a win of 570 to 40 against Hufflepuff, I am pleased to offer my congratulations to Slytherin house and its Quidditch team for winning this year's Quidditch Cup." Here, as boos erupted all over the Hall (With a small number of cheers from the Slytherin table in comparison), Dumbledore handed the Quidditch Cup to Professor Jenkruss. "However, despite their win, they have come last in the competition for the House Cup. Instead, I am pleased to extend my congratulations to Ravenclaw house for receiving 5385 points over the year. I am sure Professor Haskins will accept the House Cup for you." This time cheers sounded over the few boos as Dumbledore handed the House Cup over.

"Now, to those leaving, I offer you the best of wishes. You have worked hard over the past seven years and deserve nothing more than to succeed. So I offer a toast to you all, and share my belief that you will continue to do well. To those who will be returning next year. I wish you a good, relaxing summer. And I hope that you come back with the same positive attitude you have maintained throughout this year. School is now over, please ensure you are ready to leave tomorrow."

--------

Cheers issued, fireworks were lit, and farewells were said and before they knew it students were off the Hogwarts grounds and on the train. Though she was glad to be able to see her family again, as the train pulled away from Hogsmeade, and the sight of the looming castle vanished, heaviness settled over Lily. It took her a while to realise she was going to miss the comfort of the castle that had been her home for the last year. 'Get over it Evans,' she thought to herself. 'You'll only be gone for a few weeks, and you've been looking forward to seeing your family for months.'

"Lily? Lily!" Alex cried at her, jolting her from her thoughts.

"What?" Lily asked dazed.

"Have you been listening to a word I've been saying?" came the brisk reply.

"Yes, of course I have." She lied slowly as she tried to think of the last thing she'd heard. "You were talking about how much you're going to miss Jacob."  
Alex stared at her, resisting the urge to curse her. "That was before we even left school, as in hours ago. We're nearly half way home now."

"Oh," was all Lily could say, obviously not the right answer judging by Alex's expression. "So what were you talking about?"

Alex forgot her frustration as she began talking again. "I was saying how I think that…"

Alex's words drifted towards Lily but never seemed to reach her. She began thinking again. Reminding herself of things that had happened over the year to tell her parents and thinking up plans for winding up Petunia over the summer.

"Lily!" came Alex's angry cry once more.

"What?" she answered innocently.

Alex sighed, standing up. "Oh, forget it. I'm going to see Jacob."

Lily barely nodded as she went back to her thoughts, not feeling even slightest tinge of guilt for putting Alex in such an irate state.

--------

His friends, he knew, were joking around in the compartment, using the last of their supplies so that they could buy fresh for the next year. He, however, was sat in the corner, watching them but not really seeing them. His thoughts where elsewhere, at Hogwarts, with his friends, anywhere. Just not on the summer ahead of him, with his family. No, they were anywhere but there.

"Hey, James," he said suddenly, scaring himself with the abruptness of his words, he hadn't even realised he'd opened his mouth.

"Yes Sirius?" was the automatic reply.

"I can hang out at yours this summer, right?"

James frowned, and after a minutes silence he spoke. "Actually, no. My parents are having the house redecorated, so we're spending the summer with my Aunt."

"Oh," his smile disappeared and he leant further back into his corner.

"You can hang out at mine," Peter volunteered.

"Thanks," Sirius said in a tone that implied he wasn't all that grateful. He spent the remainder of the journey sulking in the corner, alone with his thoughts.


	14. Sneaking Out

James sat in his room hating himself for lying to his best-friend but knowing he had no choice. Ever since they had become friends Sirius had spent his holidays at James', or Remus' before he moved. Not once had he returned the invitation. This year, he supposed, it had just got to him. But as he sat now he remembered that look of hatred Sirius had given him as James had got off the train and was immediately showered in hugs and kisses from his parents. James had watched as Sirius was ushered quickly away from the train by two stony-faced people. It was only now he realised that it was a look of jealousy, not hate.

To say that James knew nothing of Sirius' home life would be a lie. He knew that Sirius didn't get on well with his parents. However, he had always assumed it was a thing they would get over. Apart from that he knew nothing, and for him to have that look…

"Mum, I'm going to Sirius," James shouted to the house.

"No, you're not," came her reply.

"But mum, he whined.

"I said no. You haven't even been home a day yet, and you've told us nothing of what you did at school."

"But it's really important."

"James, your mother said no. Now get down here and talk to us," his father's voice bellowed in a tone that he had to obey.

--------

James shivered as the Knight Bus pulled away leaving him on the dark road. Being just three in the morning he decided it wasn't a good idea to knock at the house. Instead he sat on a wall opposite number 12, waiting for signs of life. Trying to block out the state of the near run-down street, James' thoughts drifted to how much trouble he would be in when he got home. He went to the house when he saw a light go on inside and a figure moving was moving about, but he was shocked when his watch showed it was only four o'clock.

He knocked quietly on the front door. It opened slowly to reveal a young house elf.

"Yes?" it asked impatiently.

For some reason this made James nervous. "Er, I'm here to see Sirius. Am I at the right house?"

The elf looked him up and down with distaste. "Does sir know what time it is?"

James was about to respond when a gruff voice cut in. "Does Kreacher know that when we have guests they are not to be interrogated or Kreacher will be looking for a new family?"

"Yes sir," the elf responded before shuffling away muttering "Wait 'til ma'am hears about the blood-"

"Kreacher!" the voice bellowed at him.

The elf shut up and left the room with a curt bow.

"What are you doing here?" asked the gruff voice as its owner stepped into the light.

"Sirius, I-"

"Because you're supposed to be at your aunts. More importantly you're supposed to be in bed, asleep."

"The same could be said for you. Why are you up at four am?"

Sirius stared at him before walking down the hall. "I always am," he told James with a casual shrug.

James followed him; they came out in a kitchen. Sirius started doing washing, both laundry and dishes, after ensuring the rest of the room was tidy he moved onto the next. James watched before helping him, having received a stony silence as response to his offer. At around six the entire house was tidy and light footsteps could be heard from upstairs. Sirius seemed to take this as a sign to start cooking.

"Sirius, why are you doing all this?" James asked him. In school Sirius didn't care whether their dormitory was tidy or messy; in fact, he prided himself for making it so unliveable.

Sirius stopped what he was doing to smile wryly at James and say "Because it's my job." He went back to cutting some fruit when the footsteps could be heard again, this time on the stairs. Sirius looked up horror-struck when he found James was still there. "You have to go," he hissed nervously.

James was about to protest when a woman appeared in the room.

"Boy, is my break…Oh, we have company." The woman said, and looked, coldly. "And who might you be?"

"He's no-one mum," James heard Sirius say protectively. "He was just going."

"Nonsense he's staying." She looked directly at James. "Have a seat and tell me your name boy."

James was terrified. Well, maybe not terrified so much as struck with a fear that made him obey.

"Now, tell me James, how do you feel about muggles and mudbloods?"

James looked away from her at the sound of pans and plates clattering loudly. The woman spun and growled at her son. "Be careful," she hissed. "I don't want bits of china in my food."

--------

James was sat outside on the wall again. He'd been thrown out of 12 Grimmauld Place for…Well he wasn't entirely sure what for. All he had done was tell Mrs Black that he really had no opinion when it came to muggles. As far as he was concerned they were a friendly bunch of people and he was glad that there were such good relations between the magical and non-magical world. He also told her he had lots of muggle-born friends and didn't like the term 'mudblood'.

After he said that she got very angry. Her pale face turned a deep red shade and she began shouting. He wasn't entirely sure what she'd said, it all just blended together. He'd heard words like "muggle-loving" and "traitor" before being pushed out of the house and having the door slammed in his face. There had been a lot of noise in the house after that, mostly screaming and shouting, but now there was silence. The lack of noise enabled him to think about what had happened. He could only reach one conclusion: The Black's were a family of muggle-haters; Sirius seemed to be the exception and thus was outcasted and treated like dirt.

Think of the devil, here he was now. James jumped off the wall as Sirius walked over to him moodily.

"Why did you come here?" Sirius asked angrily.

"Because I was worried about you," James answered calmly.

"Me? Why?" Sirius seemed surprised by this answer.

"The way you were on the train and what I just saw in there-"

Sirius stiffened and cut him off, apparently not liking where the conversation was headed. "You didn't see anything. And even if you had it's my life. Just stay out of it." He growled before walking away.

--------

The anger James had received from Sirius was nothing compared to that of his parents when he eventually got home. After a night of no sleep, dangerous rides on the Knight Bus, getting interrogated by your best-friends mum, being thrown out of their house, realising why said friend kept his family a secret and then getting shouted at by him. Going home to angry concerned parents wanting to know where you've been and why you snuck out of the house really isn't a good thing. Especially when all you want to do is forget everything that happened and go to sleep.

"Well?" asked his mother hysterically.

James didn't know what to say. If he told her the truth, she'd get worse. If he lied, she'd get worse. And shrugging really wasn't an option.

She looked like she was going to get worse either way until his father conjured up a mug of violet coloured liquid for her, saying "Relax Joanne. He's here now and he will explain before the day is out."

There was something in his tone and look that made James nervous.

"But Henry," Joanne responded before stopping, unsure of what she was going to say.

Henry seemed to know though. He nodded at her before telling her she should go to work. Once she was gone James turned to go upstairs.

"Where do you think you're going?" Henry demanded as James' foot touched the bottom stair.

"To bed. I really need some sleep."

"Oh no, you don't." James felt an arm drag him back. "You and I are going to have a little chat." James groaned as he was forcibly led into the lounge.

"Look, dad, it really was important…"

"I don't care if you were on a spy mission for the Minister of Magic himself. You do not leave this house in the middle of the night just so you can go visiting your friend."

"But dad-" James tried to interrupt.

"Especially when you have already been told that you can not go." Henry continued, oblivious to his son's protests.

"Dad-" James tried again.

"You will, of course, be punished. You are grounded for the next three weeks – I don't care if that's half your holiday gone, you should have thought about that before you snuck out. And you will not be having treats of any kind over the summer."

James had had enough. "Dad!" he cried, rising to his feet. Finally Henry stopped talking and looked at his son. "Sirius' family are terrible. I was looking out for him," James explained.

"How so?" Henry asked.

Twenty minutes later James had cleared everything up with his father, who promised he would look into it for him. This seemed to satisfy James, though he wasn't happy that his punishments weren't reduced. Or that his constant badgering had resulted in a further week of grounding.

Finally he was able to go to bed. Exhausted he half sleep-walked to his room, waking in the late afternoon to find two letters on his desk. He read the un-enveloped one first. A note from his father informing him that he had gone to work, he would check in at the Black's first, and that Helena, the house elf, would be checking in on him regularly. "So don't even think about trying anything," James could almost hear his father's voice as he read that.

Smirking, he moved onto the next letter. It was heavy and delicately packaged.

_Jay,_

_Nice try, pity it didn't work. Your dad was great though, you should have seen the look on mums face…Anyway, that's not what I'm writing to tell you about (we can do that face-to-face), which leads me to the point: Open the paper. Just say my name into the glass and we can talk._

_Sir._

Frowning James was almost scared to open the paper, this was Sirius who was sending him it after all. Sirius who had just a few hours earlier had told him to stay out of his life. Still, curiosity got the better of him. Opening it he saw a small square mirror. It looked old, and also a little dirty, as though someone had uncovered it from centuries old junk and hastily wiped it to see what it was. Was this some kind of joke? Still…

"Sirius Black," James spoke into clearly, feeling like a bit of an idiot.

A second later Sirius' grinning face appeared in the glass. "About time, I've been waiting hours. Now, let me tell you what your dad did…"

James smiled, now this was going to be interesting.


	15. Nana Stevens

She'd only been home for a week and already Lily wanted to be back at Hogwarts. At least there she had her friends around when she was called names, and even then they didn't bother her that much. Here though, in the comfort of her family, her sister had taken to calling her a freak whenever she could, and for Lily this was more hurtful. She could handle being called a mudblood by people she didn't know. If they didn't like her because f something so stupid as her blood then so be it, she didn't care. Her sister though was a different matter entirely. They had been semi-close before Lily's acceptance letter, they shared the same blood, but now…Petunia's hatred for her was overwhelming. At Hogwarts she was away from that.

"Lily, sweetie. Your dad and I are going out; do you want to come with us?" Lily heard Kathryn call out.

"Where are you going?" she asked back.

"We're visiting Nana Stevens," Lily heard as she made her way downstairs.

"Like Nana really wants to see that freak," Petunia muttered as she made her way down, pushing Lily as she went.

A fall and mini-scream later, Lily was in the hall sprawled on the floor, her sister stepping over her as though she weren't there.

"I'll come," Petunia spoke up as her parents came to inspect the noise.

"I tripped," Lily lied to the questioning looks on her parents faces'. Getting up and dusting herself off she continued with, "Just give me a couple of minutes."

She ran back upstairs again, brushed her hair through and clasped her charm bracelet on. She still had no idea who it was off but she liked the way it jangled as she walked.

"Ok, ready," she announced as she raced back downstairs again.

--------

"Oh my, look at you." Nana Stevens exclaimed as she opened the door. "You've grown so much."

Lily laughed. "Not as much as you've shrunk," she responded to their long-running greeting.

Petunia scowled at her sister as she entered the house, closely followed by her parents. "Nana, are you moving?" Boxes were scattered around the room and lots of things packaged in them.

Nana Stevens turned to Petunia and nodded. "I'm afraid so. This house is just too small for us with all you children running around."

Petunia frowned, as did Lily. Nana Stevens, Kathryn's mother, had only ever had the one child and had lived alone since her husband died fifteen years ago. Kathryn and Jack had moved in with her for a little while after his death. Petunia had gone with them, being not long born, but they left a year before Lily was born.

"But I've found this lovely little cottage up by the creek. I'll be moving in any day now."

This caused them both to frown again. There wasn't a creek anymore, let alone cottages. There hadn't been for years now. Petunia looked at her mother with concern.

"Why don't you two go for a walk?" Kathryn suggested.

Petunia was about to protest but Lily had already grabbed her arm and was leading her out of the house.

"What do you think you're doing?" Petunia glared at her sister.

"Getting you out of the house. I don't know if you noticed but there's something wrong with-"

"There's nothing wrong with Nana," Petunia shouted, though she didn't believe it.

"'Tunia, come on," Lily said gently, using the nickname from when they were both younger. "She thinks we live with her, and the creek. How long has that been gone?"

"That doesn't mean there's something wrong with her," Petunia argued shrilly. "Everybody forgets things sometimes."

"Petunia-"

"No! I don't believe it. I won't." Petunia ran from Lily, from the house, from everything.

--------

'Where is she?' Lily thought frustrated as she searched for her sister. She'd already checked the usual places they went to but there was no sign of her. There was only one place left to look.

"Oh, Petunia, what are you doing down here?" Lily asked as she finally found her sister beside a small pond.

"Look," Petunia pointed to a row of buildings a few yards away.

"What am I looking at?" Lily responded uncertainly. She saw nothing special about the buildings.

"The buildings, they're flats," was the answer in a tone that suggested it was all obvious.

Suddenly it fit in Lily's mind. The pond, the only remainder of what used to be the creek. And the flats, an old woman could easily get confused.

"Petunia, this is not what she meant and you know it." Lily stated shortly, she knew she was supposed to be being kinder and more patient, but she was having great difficulty right now.

"How do you know?" Petunia spat at her. "You don't know anything. You're just a little freak. She could easily have meant this." Tears were starting to roll down her cheeks.

Lily nodded with a sigh, Petunia didn't believe that any more than she did, but arguing wasn't going to help her face up to it. "You're right. She probably meant this," she soothed to her sister, hugging her, hoping what was to come would make them close again.

--------

In a way it must have done. That evening, as they sat to eat after returning home, their parents brought up the topic.

"Now girls. We don't want you to panic over what you saw today. Nana just has a problem with her head. A problem that is going to make her forget things and become confused from time to time. She'll be moving into a care home where nurses can look after her, you can visit her whenever."

Lily nodded as Petunia slammed her fork down onto the plate of barely touched food. "There's nothing wrong with Nana's head," she cried. "She's just joking with you. You know how she likes to laugh."

"Petunia-" her mother said softly.

"No," Petunia said forcefully, once again refusing to believe anything was wrong.

She pushed her chair back with such force that it clattered onto the floor. Lily could hear her running up the stairs, heard a door slam and lock and saw her parents go after her. She knew they were trying to get Petunia to come out and having no luck and she couldn't do anything to help. Feeling useless, Lily sat in silence at the table, trying to forget everything, to pretend it wasn't happening.

Noiselessly, and with all the grace of a cat, Lily made her way to her room. After a while her state of unrest was interrupted by Petunia. Apparently Kathryn and Jack had given up on her for the night and gone to bed. Petunia, being unable to sleep, had decided to see Lily.

"Everything's going to be okay, isn't it?" Lily was asked by her sister who seemed so young, not at all like her older age.

"Yes," Lily promised hoarsely, though she saw no way how it could be. "You watch, this time next year everything will be back to normal."

The two girls clung to that hope as they fell into fitful states of sleep.

--------

This temporary truce between the girls didn't last long. It was always inevitable that the two would be fighting again before the end of the holidays but no one expected it to be so soon.

Just two weeks after their first visit to Nana Stevens, who (even Petunia admitted) didn't look that good, came the news that she had passed away. Lily reacted by once again going quiet and staying away from human contact, though she did write a letter to Alex.

Petunia, however, burst into tears straight away. This time she allowed herself to be comforted by her parents. But as meal times came and Lily just sat there, silent, showing no traces of tears, Petunia's upset turned to anger.

"You just don't care, do you freak?" Petunia spat after lunch a couple of days later.

'And there it is,' Lily thought miserably as she quietly turned to face her sister, knowing all her hate had returned.

"I said," Petunia started as though Lily hadn't heard what she'd said. She didn't get to finish.

"I heard," Lily snapped, her throat sore, this was the first time she had used it in a few days. "And you're wrong." She didn't bother arguing, just made her way upstairs ignoring the cries of "Get back here!"

She was sat in her room when Petunia, who apparently didn't like being ignored, stormed in.

"You don't care. If you did you'd cry or shout or something."

Lily looked at her. "I am doing something." She paused, should she continue or not? "You know, at school, there are ghosts who haunt the place. And I read in a book that when you die-"

"I don't want to hear about your abnormal little school," Petunia glared.

"You will listen," Lily shouted. As she did so the open door slammed shut behind Petunia who, try as she may, could not open it again.

"Open this door. Now!"

"Not until you listen."

Petunia glared and instinctively Lily knew she wouldn't listen. It was at that moment she learnt just how much Petunia hated her as the thing Lily least expected to happen, happened.

Petunia flew at her, taken off guard Lily fell to the floor. Before she could respond Petunia was on top of her, scratching and clawing as though her life depended on it. She was repeating over and over "I will not listen."

Now that she had recovered, Lily pushed Petunia off her, glad that her sister had such a petite frame. When they were both standing up Petunia tried diving on her once more. Lily expected it this time and cut her off with a swift punch to the stomach. A fight ensued that resulted in a lot of banging and screaming.

Fearing for their daughters' safety, Kathryn and Jack raced upstairs only to find that Jack had to use most of his strength to force open the door. Shouting didn't stop them, nor did calming words. Kathryn and Jack literally had to drag the pair apart.

"Never in my whole life have I seen such a display," Kathryn told them, clearly shocked.

"Nor do we want to again," Jack concluded angrily.

"She started it," Petunia stated, immediately laying blame. Her face was covered in scratches and bruises. A few patches of blood were mixed with sweat.

"I did not!" Lily cried her voice thick with blood.

"Enough!" Jack shouted. "I don't care who started it, the fact that it happened at all is what concerns me. You are both grounded. You will leave the house for the funeral and to buy your school things only. Now Petunia, get to your room."

Petunia did so, albeit grudgingly. Lily knew better than to argue and just began straightening her room out. She saw something glittering on the floor. Picking it up she saw it was a silver "L", looking round she saw the three-leaved clover and lily on the floor too. Bits of chain littered the floor. Tears began pouring from her face, she didn't push them back; she just let them fall. With everything that had happened she felt too weak to stop them anyway. She had no idea when her parents left, or when it got dark, but it calmed her to look out of the window and see the moon shining and the stars twinkling. She noticed a new star, brighter and bolder than the others. Looking up at it filled her with warmth and her tears were replaced by a smile.

"Goodbye Nana," she said out loud before going to bed.


	16. The Dinner

"Hey Evans!" a voice called out making Lily turn around and roll her eyes. This was all she needed. She got one day out, under the watchful eye of her parents, and she had to see him.

"What do you want Potter?" she asked coldly. She could feel the gush of air as her mother spun round to look over him critically.

He shrugged. "I'm just saying hi."

"Well hi, and 'bye." She turned to walk away but was stopped by her mother.

"Where's your list sweetie? Your dad and I will buy your things. You spend some time with your friends."

"Potter and I aren't friends," Lily reminded her, knowing it was pointless.

"Of course we are," James argued with a grin as he put his arm over her shoulder.

Lily glared at him before looking at her father, silently pleading him to argue. It didn't come.

"Well, make sure you look after her James. We'll meet you back here in a couple of hours Lily." Kathryn smiled as she watched her daughter being led through Diagon Alley.

"Get your arm off me Potter," Lily ordered when they were out of earshot of her parents.

"Now Evans, if your mother can bring herself to call me James, nice of you to tell her about me by the way, then why can't you?" he asked in his cocky way.

"Potter-"

"Uh-uh, James," he corrected.

"Potter," she continued, giving him a sigh as the only sign she had heard him talk. "We've been through this. I don't like you and am not your friend. As I only call my friends by their first name then it makes no sense to you call James. Speaking of friends, there's Alex, so 'bye." She started walking away, unaware that he was following her.

"Alex!" she called to her friend, running to catch her up.

"Lily," Alex responded, hugging her when she arrived. "Uh, what's he doing here?"

Lily turned around. "Potter, will you go away?"

He ignored her, answering Alex's question instead. "I have been enlisted by Mrs. Evans to ensure that her daughter is safe whilst in Diagon Alley."

"She wants her daughter to be safe yet she asked you? Well there's a big contradiction," Alex stated making Lily giggle.

Five minutes later the three were sat outside Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlour. The girls were discussing what they had done during the summer up until now whilst James looked around for his friends, a bored expression on his face.

"I haven't done anything," Lily told them. "I've been grounded for the last three weeks for fighting with Petunia."

"Really?" James asked with sudden interest as he signalled for his friends to come over. "Little Miss Perfect needed punishing?"

Lily nodded, ignoring his remark as he saw Sirius, Remus and Peter heading over.

"Remus," she hugged him when he came over. She ignored Sirius and Peter's presence completely.

"Oh yeah, Remus gets his name used," James muttered.

"Well Remus is my friend," she stated as though this were obvious.  
"Whatever"

Lily smirked at this response. The rest of their time was spent sat at that table. Lily had a whispered conversation with Remus before they joined in with the group discussion.

This was interrupted when James suddenly stood up. "We have to go Evans."

"Excuse me?"

"You've had nearly three hours. Your parents will be wondering where you are."

"Oh. Well I can go on my own. I don't need your help."

"Tough luck, I promised." With that his arm was over her shoulders again and he was steering her through the crowds.

"Sorry she's late," James apologized to Lily's parents. "We met some friends and time just ran away."

Kathryn smiled, though Jack looked at him with what can only be described as curiosity-hiding-suspicion.

"It's not a problem," Kathryn told him, still smiling warmly. "I just hope you two kids had fun. Maybe you and your parents can come over one night next week?"

Lily scowled. "I'm sure they have more interesting things to do."

He words were drowned out by James who jumped in with "We'd love to. I'll tell my parents tonight and send an owl." Kathryn nodded at this, making James grin and Lily scowl even more. "See you later Evans," he said with a wave.

When he was gone Lily rounded on her mother. "What did you do that for?"

"Do what?" Kathryn asked innocently.

--------

"Hullo Evans," James' grinning face spoke on the evening of August 31st. He was ignored by Lily, who's only recognition of his presence was an unfriendly look before pulling him into the house. He saw her smile politely at his parents who were looking at her curiously due to her odd behaviour.

"Hi," she said shaking their hands in an obvious attempt to get them to stop looking at her like that. "I'm Lily."

"Joanne," his mother said.

"And I'm Henry," his father smiled at her.

"Joanne and Henry, right. Would you like to come through?"

Lily led them into the lounge where they were to wait. James looked around in amazement at the muggle items and the cosiness of such a small house whilst his parents were involved in a polite conversation with Lily's parents.

He could feel two sets of eyes on him. Turning to face them he saw identical glares, one he expected. He was used to Lily scowling at him by now. The other though he had no idea why he was getting. It was from a face he had never seen before. A long neck and horse-like face under dark hair and set on a tiny frame, James found it hard to believe this was a relation to Lily, let alone her sister.

Both women left the room; Joanne insistent on helping Kathryn serve the food. A few minutes later Kathryn came back and announced it was time for them to eat. As they all walked into the dining room, James struck up his first conversation with Lily.

"What's up with her?" he was aware that beside him, Lily had tensed up.

"Who?" she responded shortly.

"Your sister, what was she called – Daisy?"

To his surprise Lily laughed. "It's Petunia, just ignore her, I do. She doesn't like people from our world."

"How come?"

Lily shrugged and was about to answer when a voice from behind them jumped in.

"Because you're all freaks," it hissed.

James faked hurt. "Ouch," he muttered before continuing in a semi-interested way. "Tell me Petunia, are you always this nosy or do you just feel that with a neck like that you should be?"

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Lily fighting back the laughter that threatened to spill. Petunia gave him the dirtiest look she could muster before seating herself at the table. He noticed with a twinge he couldn't place that Lily was scowling again as they sat next to each other.

--------

Sure she'd scowled when she sat down but that didn't mean she wasn't enjoying herself now. As the evening passed, Lily found herself remembering why she'd been friends with James when she'd started Hogwarts last year. Just like he was then, he was now. Funny, entertaining, friendly, not quite so preoccupied with pranks and bullying. More importantly he was talking to her as though she were an equal and not as though he were better than her because of who he and his friends were. Although, she noted with a kind of sadness, he was still calling her Evans.

"So how's Narcissa?" she asked politely. Dinner was over and the seven people had moved into the back garden to enjoy the warm summers evening.

She thought she saw his face darken, but when he smiled she decided she imagined it. "She's great, as far as I know."

Lily frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

James shrugged. "Nothing, forget I said anything. Look, Tuna's all on her own. I might just go and talk to her…Build bridges, that kind of thing."

Lily wanted to protest, to tell him to stay with her a little longer but she didn't. She couldn't. 'Get a hold of your-self,' she thought soothingly. 'You're not even supposed to like the guy. Remember?' She nodded, whether in conformation of what James had said or to what she'd thought she wasn't sure.

After a boring half hour listening to the adults discuss the finer points of French cuisine, which Lily supposed she should probably have found more interesting considering her parents had never been to France, Lily excused herself to go looking for James and Petunia. Neither had been seen since they disappeared into the house 20 minutes ago.

She searched each of the rooms downstairs but to no avail. Curiosity got the better of her as she searched upstairs, though she had no idea why they would be up there. First the bathroom, no sign. Petunia's room? Still no luck. They weren't in her parents' room either; there was only one place left.

She opened the door of her own bedroom and let out a small gasp, though she wasn't particularly sure why. She'd suspected something like this. Maybe it was because they were in her room, or maybe just because Petunia made her hate so widely known that it was odd to see her lips locked with a wizard. Whatever the reason, the sight was making her sick.

"What do you think you're doing?" Lily demanded angrily.

--------

James jumped, how could he not? She was so sudden and angry. "What are you doing here?" He asked her back casually.

He didn't expect the reply. He'd expected something like "I was looking for you" or "I came to tell you your parents are leaving." But the response he got was so cold and casual it chilled him.

"Well, gee, let me think. Could I possibly be here because it's my room and I want something from it?"

He got over his scare quickly. "This is your room Evans? It's…" He looked around it as though for the first time. The walls were a mix of baby pink and sunshine yellow, dotted with posters and hand-drawn pictures. The carpet, a colour, looked soft. "Cute," he finished for lack of a better word.

Lily didn't appear to be listening though. She was staring at her sister with an intense hatred bordering on malice. To his surprise Petunia was giving it back twice as much.

"What do you think you were doing?" Lily asked again, this time James realised she was talking directly to Petunia and stayed quiet.

"Well your room is so clean and perfect," she smiled nastily. "And there's a lot more space in here. Plus I know how much you like James."

James looked over at Lily when he heard this, breaking contact with a broken chain he had seen. He could have sworn he heard a growl coming from Lily's side of the room but she said nothing, she did nothing, not to her sister anyway. She just walked out of the room at a normal pace after declaring that she liked James as much as "Petunia likes acne." So looking back he figured he'd imagined the growl.

He followed her out of the room, Petunia behind him looking pretty proud of herself. When he reached the bottom of the stairs his parents were already there, preparing to leave.

"Oh, there you are James. Been having fun?" Henry asked.

"You could say that," he answered with a grin.

His father rolled his eyes; he knew only too well what James had probably been up to.

"Are we leaving now?"

Joanne nodded as she said goodbye to each of the Evans' individually.

"We should do this again," he heard her tell Kathryn. "Just the four of us, when the kids are back at school."

He heard Kathryn agree, saw his father and Jack nod in agreement and he saw Petunia get an unreadable look on her face that soon turned to disgust when she realised she'd be seeing more of them. But mostly he saw Lily's face, an expression of mixed emotions that was going to stay with him for a while. Anger, sadness, resentment, hate and, for a reason unknown to him, happiness.

His parents left the house. He stepped towards the door. "See you tomorrow Evans."

"Oh, I can't wait," was the sarcastic response. He grinned at it and chased after his parents.

--------------------

A/N: As second year is due to start in the next chapter I want to take this time to thank everyone who's reviewed and read the last 16 chapters. I try to answer everyone's review personally by e-mail, but I just want to take the time to do it again here, just in case I haven't e-mailed you yet.

**Tinkerbell86 **Hey, if you're still reading. As my first reviewer I really hope you are. Yes, that was her first year; I'm going from first year to their death, so enjoy it.

**Krueger2 **Thanks sis!

**Mommiedearest** Thanks mum!

**Samli** I fixed up the summary for you, and I took it all very gracefully. There were only a few broken things! I do hope to publish something one day, and you're not alone with being a "delighted, dedicated, and self-declared bookworm".

**Dreammergurl2007** I'm glad you find it interesting. Hope you still are.

**Miss Lady Padfoot** My biggest reviewer so far! Here's the update you wanted, it took a while though didn't it? Oh well, it's your enthusiasm that encourages me to write more!

**Kellyak **Like I've already said, I do hope to take up writing as a profession. I've read the reviews you've sent to my mother, I'm touched. I'm glad you like the story; maybe it'll encourage you to read Harry Potter, eh? hint hint****

**Chrissy8887779999** I know Sirius isn't that friendly, but he will be. He was just…shall we say upset that James was getting close to finding out what his life was like. But I'll try to make him a lot funnier and friendlier from now on. Oh and there'll be times when James and Lily are getting on.

Ok, I think that's everyone, to anyone who's reading but hasn't reviewed: Why not?! If you have any questions or just want to tell me how good, or bad, you find this story then don't hesitate to review and tell me.

Rae.


	17. Pixie Trouble

Their summer was over, and for most of our group the return to Hogwarts was more welcoming than a return to school should be. For Lily, it meant she could get away from her sister's snide remarks. Sirius could escape the verbal abuse of his parents. Remus no longer had to see those sneaked wary glances, as though he were going to turn into a werewolf and attack them at any minute. Alex didn't have to put up with Jenny for another year. Even Alice, who had been becoming more of a friend to Lily and Alex in the final few months of the previous year, had her reasons for wanting to return.

Their journey to school was uneventful. Their train ride was long, filled with mixed feelings of anticipation for the new year and a sense of sadness in knowing that their summer was over. The most exciting thing to happen was the accidental cursing of two Slytherin second years. This resulted in the two, one a platinum blonde and the other a greasy black-haired boy, being magically joined at the hip. The latter of who was forced to sing "Bah Bah Black Sheep" while the former was clothed in a fuchsia dress with lime green spots. They did find their carriages onto the grounds interesting though. After all, it's not everyday they see carriages moving by themselves, even in the magical world.

And so the minute they arrived at the main building they were sent to be seated in the Great Hall. With the sorting over, Dumbledore stood up to talk.

"Welcome students old and new to another year at Hogwarts. This year we welcome not only our first year students but also Professor Minerva McGonagall as the new Transfiguration professor and Head of Gryffindor House. She will be taking over the position of Professor Gemias who passed away over the summer. As she completed her training here, most of you will already know her, but I would like you to join in welcoming her officially to Hogwarts."

The whole school stood and toasted her arrival, after which the usual notices were given and the feast started.

"Well I think the last nights of holidays are always the best," James said inserting himself into a conversation were people were talking about the better days of their holidays. "Isn't that right Evans?" He was shouting across the table playfully now.

Lily looked up at him with a blank stare. "Isn't what right?" her voice was cold, but for once not startling him.

"That the last night of a holiday is always the best." He told her with a grin.

She looked as though she were going to turn around and ignore him, that is, until she spoke. "You know what? You are so right." This surprised James as she continued. "It allows us to see what people are really like and offers us the chance to remember why we stopped liking old friends in the first place. But most of all, it gives us a sense of power so that we can get on with our lives." With that she turned form him, he was fairly certain she had a self-satisfied smile on her face, though he didn't know why.

As he took in her words, James heard Alex ask what that had all been about. Unfortunately he didn't hear the response, just saw Alex nod every now and then.

--------

"What was that all about?" Alex asked Lily, who noticed with a smile that she was completely confused.

"Nothing, just something that happened last night." Lily saw Alex was looking at her expectantly so with a sigh she continued. "James and his parents had dinner at my house last night. I assume the reason he found it to be so good was because he was with Petunia all night. Unfortunately it wasn't good for me who saw it."

Alex still looked confused until it slowly dawned on her. "Wait, you mean like when you saw him with Narcissa?" Lily nodded a strange look on her face. "Eww."

Lily laughed. "I know its gross isn't it?" Alex nodded this time, making Lily smile.

"So tell me about this dinner last night."

Lily pulled a face. "You sure you want to know?" Alex nodded once more. "Well ok, but just remember; you asked."

Lily began telling her about the dinner, odd looks crossing her face now and then. "…And they've agreed to meet up again." She concluded with horror on her face this time.

"It's not that bad," Alex argued as Dumbledore stood up to dismiss them all. They didn't continue the conversation until they were up in their dormitory after sitting in Gryffindor common room for a few minutes.

"It's good to back," Lily commented as she stepped through the door.

Alex dived on her bed. "You're telling me."

Lily joined her, speaking up after a couple of minutes of uncomfortable silence. "You know what, you're right."

Alex frowned. "About what?"

"It not being that bad." Alex continued to look at her blankly making Lily roll her eyes. "About my parents becoming friends with the Potter's." Alex raised an eyebrow in an interested way. "Well think about. What did I say last year after our little…depression? I want to get even at him, remember? I know he didn't do anything, but it still hurt me. I want him to hurt, too. And this way I can do it without him suspecting."

An unreadable look passed over Alex's face before she smiled. "How are you going to do that?"

Lily was silent for a moment. "I don't know yet. But I'll think of-"

Voices sounded on the stairs just seconds before Marie, Alice and Narcissa walked into the dormitory.

"-Something." Lily concluded heading into the bathroom quickly.

When she came out the three mentioned were queuing to use the bathroom. Alex was giving her a look that chilled her somewhat. Trying to brush it off quickly Lily said a quick "Goodnight" before getting into bed, her back facing Alex. She could feel eyes boring into her back, preventing her from sleep, but when she turned around Alex and Alice were deep in conversation and Marie was busy pounding on the bathroom door in the vain hope that it would get Narcissa out faster. Figuring she imagined it, Lily rolled back over and went to sleep.

--------

"Well that's done," James announced proudly as he strolled casually into his dormitory the next morning.

Four heads turned to look at him questioningly.

"What's done?" Remus asked warily after a few minutes.

"Me and Narcissa. I just finished with her and-"

"You better not have hurt her," Sirius warned viciously. He might not get on well with his family but that didn't mean he didn't care. Especially when it came to his cousins. He knew they were all still young and so didn't have to end up like the other Black's. Narcissa already showed evidence of this by being sorted into Gryffindor.

"Of course I didn't Sir," James said feigning shock. "All I did was tell her in no uncertain terms that I thought we should no longer be together. She accepted it fine, didn't cry or anything." There was a faint sadness in his voice as he realise this. He pushed it away quickly. "See; no hurt."

Sirius seemed to be thinking this over. "Good," he said eventually.

James said something similar before looking around the room. They had the day off because it was a Sunday and the guys were using it in such an odd way. Peter was playing Wizard Chess with Frank (the latter of who was winning dramatically). Remus was writing, presumably to his parents, and Sirius was, well James wasn't sure he was seeing right at first. That is until he read the cover. This is because Sirius was, for once, reading. The book, James realised, was volume two of the series he had received for Christmas the previous year.

James sat down with a sigh. When did all his friends turn into geeks?

"I'm bored," he complained loudly, twirling his wand between his fingers like a baton. "Oh, wait. I just remembered something I've been dying to try out." He waved his wand idly, watching with glee as the pieces on the chess board transformed into Albanian Pixies wearing lime green dresses with violet spots. Not only this, but they were doing the can-can across the board.

"What the…" Frank started making Sirius and Remus look up and began laughing.

James was laughing too, until he saw Peter lean in for a closer look. "No, Pete. Don't." But his cries fell on deaf ears as Peter poked one making it fly around the room. The others, seeing this as a sign that it was ok, joined their friend. Within minutes the room was in chaos.

Books now minus their pages were thrown everywhere. Clothes littered the floor and photos and other keepsakes were strewn about.

"Peter!" James shouted. "What did you do that for?" At that minute Frank ran out of the room in terror.

"I...I..." Peter couldn't answer for his panic.

Sirius, who was clutching both volume one and two tightly to his chest so as to keep them away from the pixies, turned his head to James. "What did you do? What spell did you use?"

James, whose eyes were wide at the sight, merely shrugged. "I don't know. It was just something I made up during the holidays."

Sirius looked like he was going to say something he should regret but in this situation wouldn't have when stern voice cut in. "What is going on here?" Looking in its direction James saw an irate Professor McGonagall in the doorway. Behind her stood a scared Frank.

"Well-er-you see Professor," James began as he tried to think of a plausible explanation. "We were all just sat here when the pixies flew in and started attacking us."

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "And it happened just like that did it?" James nodded fervently giving his friends looks to agree. Remus and Sirius joined in after a while but Peter just looked at them blankly and Frank was still too scared to move.

With an unconvinced look on her face McGonagall said, "How odd that Albanian Pixies would be found so far out of Albania."

A nervous look passed over James face. "Yes, odd. But not impossible."

McGonagall gave him an unreadable look whilst pulling out her wand. With a wave the pixies stopped in mid-air before falling to the floor with a clatter. It appeared they had reverted back to their statuette state, some chipping as they reached the ground.

"Indeed," McGonagall said with a raised eyebrow. "Potter, come with me."

--------

"Lying, casting unknown spells and endangering people's lives unnecessarily. What do you have to say about this?" Dumbledore implored.

James didn't know what to say. This was his first time in Dumbledore's office and quite frankly he was scared. For him to have been sent there he must have done something worse than usual.

"Don't be so afraid," Dumbledore said lightly after a few moments silence. "There is nothing I can do to you. Nothing drastic anyway. No, the most I can do is expel you." James' face fell making Dumbledore chuckle. "Don't worry Mr Potter, there will be no expulsions. Instead you will have a months worth of in-school suspension. You will be separated from your fellow students and you will eat separately from the other Gryffindors. As we speak a room is being prepared for you to sleep in."

Dumbledore went on to explain the finer points of James' punishment before giving them to him on a sheet of parchment.

"Professor McGonagall will collect you in one hour so I suggest you go pack everything you need and inform your friends."

James nodded before hurrying out of the room.

--------

As Alex sat doing last minute homework, Lily sat opposite watching her. Her intention, she said, was to keep Alex company, but so far all she had done was scold Alex, pausing occasionally to write something on a piece of parchment.

"…I still can't believe you haven't done this," Lily said again. "I mean, what would you have done if we didn't have today off?"

Alex looked up from her parchment, finally tired of Lily's rant. "Well I can't believe you're still going on about it. And anyway, if we didn't have today off I obviously would have done it already. As it is we do have today off, and I'm choosing to spend it doing my homework." She paused for a moment. "You know, not all of us had three weeks grounding to do it in. Some of us had lives."

Lily looked horrified. Before she even opened her mouth she knew that what she was about to say would make her sound like a nerd. "I didn't do it then, it was all done before the holidays even started. I was doing…other things during those three weeks." Saying this gave her an idea, letting her add to the list of things she was writing.

"You're kid…" Alex began but thought better of it. "Of course you're not. Look, whatever. The sooner you leave me alone the sooner I will get this done." There was a tone in her voice that Lily didn't like, almost a warning.

"Fine, I'll make it like I was never here."

Lily collected all of her things from the table, including her favourite quill that Alex was writing with. She exchanged it for the battered one belonging to Alex, the one she'd been writing with. With a sweet smile and a short "'bye" Lily moved over to the other side of the room, leaving a fuming Alex to glower after her.

Moving had allowed Lily to hear what the Marauders were up to, and it was more interesting than her list.

"You will always be in the company of a professor; you are not permitted to talk to anyone but that professor. Contact with anyone other than this professor will result in a further week's suspension. You will have separate lessons and the set work and homework will be double that of your normal load; you are expected to complete all of it." She heard Remus say as though he were reading from a card.

"Man, those rules are stupid. It's more like they're putting you in solitary confinement." This was Sirius' voice.

James laughed, Lily cut in to it. "What have you done to get a punishment like that?" She couldn't help herself from asking.

"What's it to you, Evans? Are you feeling sorry for me?"

"Yeah," she answered sarcastically. "That's it."

"Any chance that means you like me?" he asked as though she had been serious.

"Oh yeah, I meant to tell you; I'm madly in love with you. I want to marry you and have your children. Get real Potter."  
He didn't seem to expect anything as big as that sardonic revelation. Lily could tell that he was trying to think of a witty come back. She could also tell he was relieved to be spared from any such ridicule at being unable to do this thinking by the appearance of Professor McGonagall.

"Mr Potter, I trust you have your things ready?"

Lily watched as he nodded and pointed to a trunk.

"Good, come along then."

James stood and began to follow the professor who had charmed his trunk to follow them.

Before she knew what she was doing, Lily was up and talking. "Professor," she called making both McGonagall and James turn around. Now what was she going to say? "Uh-I was wondering if I could just talk to P…James for a moment."

McGonagall seemed to be deliberating whether this was a good idea or not. "Just for a minute Evans."

"Thank you," she said taking James to one side.

"I knew you weren't joking before," he commented following it with his trademark grin.

Lily's eyes rolled before she could stop them. "Actually, I just wanted to tell you that suspension isn't a good enough punishment." He looked at her curiously. "No, because you never learn do you? They should try something else."

He folded his arms. "Do you have something in mind?" She noticed with disgust that there was an impish expression on his face.

Instead of getting angry or frustrated she smiled with a look that rivalled his. "Oh, I might have a few ideas."

A cough sounded reminding her that James was supposed to be going.

"See you later Potter," she called as he left the common room.


	18. Inschool Suspension

A/N: So sorry it's taken so long. I've been having SERIOUS computer problems, as in we had to swap computers while this one was fixed. BUT, I'm back and I bring chapters…or rather A chapter. I'll be updating again at the weekend but right now I'm blowing off homework (I can't believe I get homework in college!) to update because I'm such a kind, brilliant person! Anyway, enjoy it.

* * *

The days went by and James was surprised by how much he was enjoying himself. Of course, he missed his friends and he hated not being able to join in their joking around. He had to watch from afar at meal times (a table away) as his friends laughed over something stupid Peter had just said or something Sirius had done, but apart from that he loved it. For once in his life he didn't feel like he had to play up to a crowd; not that he really did anyway. The way he saw it, when he was with his friends he felt confident. Sirius in particular listened to his ideas, helped him put them into action. He went along with them because he didn't want to let his friends down…and he liked the confusion they caused. This suspension took him away from that, now he didn't feel the pressure of having to always be the one who came up with things. He got to experience a different side of himself. A side that could relax and concentrate on getting all the work done, he knew he could do it now. Except while he enjoyed this break, that's all it was to him: A break. He knew that when his month was over he would be back to concentrating on his Maraudering, maybe more so to make up for the time he'd missed. 

It was evening now, and James was sat in his personal dormitory (If you can call a tiny room with a bed shoved in it a dormitory), making an attempt on his homework.

"James," a voice hissed. "Hey, James, are you there?"

Sirius' voice realised a grinning James. He grabbed the mirror. "Sir!" he cried brightly.

"Keep your voice down, someone will hear you." Sirius warned in surprisingly authoritive tones.

James would probably have flushed at this display of bad memory had they been in the same room. As it was, they weren't so he recovered quickly. "There's no one around," he replied off-handed. "What do you want, anyway?"

"Oh nice," Sirius said faking hurt. "I risk myself talking to you and you act like that."

James rolled his eyes obviously, quite aware that Sirius could see this action. "I'm at more risk than you so shut up."

Sirius seemed to realise this as the next time he spoke he was answering James' previous question.

"I'm just bored, that's all. I told Peter to sod off so he did, and Remus has gone home again. His mum's cousin's sister's son's nephew's grandmother is ill or something like that."

"Oh," James said as his mind wandered to trying to work out who was ill. "His mums' cousin," he muttered.

"What?" Sirius asked. James could see his image occupied with something else.

"Nothing," James answered. "What are you doing?"

"I just saw Alice outside," Sirius answered with a sly grin. "She's looking particularly nice today."

"Alice? Alice Howard?" James asked in awe. "But she's going out with Jordan."

"No, not her, the one from Hufflepuff. You know, the Head Girl."

"But she's in seventh year."

"And…?" was Sirius' overconfident response.

James laughed, he should have guessed. He heard the floor creak outside. "Sir, there's someone coming. I'll be right back." He whispered receiving some kind of muttered response.

James made his way to the door of his room. Opening it a fraction, James could hear voices outside.

"Thank you for taking over for me, Sophia." This voice belonged to McGonagall. She'd been the one watching over him today.

"No problem Minerva. It was this or take over escorting Lupin for you. Potter's a lot easier to handle." He recognized this as Jenkruss' voice.

"Lupin's not a problem so long as he's there before it gets dark. And you have to remember; it's not his fault." McGonagall spoke again.

James was confused, questions whirled around his head. What were they talking about – it's ok as long as it's not dark? Where was Remus going and why was Jenkruss so scared of him?

He leaned back for a better listen but only heard retreating footsteps. He was so close that he felt the full impact as the door opened fully.

"Potter, what are you doing?" demanded Jenkruss as he fell to the floor.

Clutching his mouth, James tried to speak but the words came out thick, and hurt to say.

"Oh dear," he heard her say before instructing him to follow her and before he knew it he was in the Hospital Wing having his jaw put back in position. When Doctor Nedalski was done Jenkruss questioned him again.

"I was doing my homework but my door was open so when you were outside talking it distracted me. I got up to close it when you opened the door in my face, _breaking my jaw._" This seemed like a plausible excuse.

It satisfied Jenkruss anyway. And adding that last bit as a plea of innocence seemed to have made her willing to drop the subject out of guilt.

"Very well Potter. Come along."

When James was back in his room, and he was sure Jenkruss was gone, he picked up the mirror again.

"Hey Sir, you'll never guess what?"

There was no answer; there was no face in the glass in the glass either. Cursing James put the mirror down, resolving to tell Sirius when his suspension was over. Once more he picked up his quill and parchment to finish his homework.

--------

James walked down the abandoned corridors, his footsteps echoing, shattering the eerie silence. The halls seemed to be going on forever, they looked different too. Looking at one curiously he realised they were bare. None of the usual paintings and portraits decorated the wall; there were no suits of armour around either. As he stood watching, the walls began to ripple. He frowned; Hogwarts could be so weird sometimes. Cool but weird.

He moved in for a closer look. This investigation revealed that the walls weren't actually moving because there were no walls to move. Instead there was layer upon layer of slimy insects wriggling to get on top of each other. He felt disgusted by the sight in front of him but he couldn't turn away. He stepped closer to the wall with one arm outstretched. One finger poked through a small hole followed closely by the rest of his hand. Worms and maggots fell at his feet but he didn't care. He stepped through, not bothering to brush the caterpillars and grubs off his clothes and out of his hair.

He stepped through into the darkness. A small light illuminated a tiny section revealing a corner of wall. He was in a small room. Barely audible noise sounded, incomprehensible at first but as time went by it became more and more recognisable as quiet mumblings. In the pitch dark he could not see who, or what, was making the noise, only the general direction it was coming from. He reached for his wand lighting it with a simple _Lumos _spell. Its light offered little penetration into the darkness, providing only a small beam of light. This was enough for him to see faintly.

He could make out the image of a small child sat crouched against the wall. As he moved closer and the light concentrated on the figure more, James could see the person was a girl no more than 3 years old. Her dark hair tied back limply whilst her startling blue eyes showed a hidden fear. James took another couple of steps forward.

"Hi," he began to say before the girl moved away from him, scuttling into the darkness once again.

Once more James followed the murmurings in the hope of finding the girl again. This time though he saw a boy. Remus.

"Remus, what are you doing here?" James walked towards his friend who, instead of smiling, growled as he too ran from James.

Again James went after him, now Remus was gone and a man left in his place. A round man with ginger hair, he looked to be in his late forties.

Learning from his past mistakes, James stood away from the man instead shining his wands light on him. A deeper growl sounded as he too ran into the darkness.

"The light…" James heard a woman's voice. He headed towards it in time to see the same ginger-haired man, talking in a woman's voice, turn into an old woman who fitted the rusty tones.

Shocked, James moved into the light away from the woman so that it cast a pale, eerie glow on her.

He watched in amazement as the woman now changed, Remus appeared again. James blinked in awe. When his eyes re-opened the light from his wand dimmed.

'The spell must be running out,' he thought wildly as he was plunged into darkness.

"Lum-off," he began to say as something hurtled into his stomach, knocking him to the ground.

His wand flew from his hand. He scrambled to get it until something grabbed his leg, dragging him across the hard floor.

Wandless and winded, James struggled in vain against his captor as they went back through the wall of the room, James narrowly avoiding a mouthful of frogspawn and wasps.

Instead of being back in the corridor, James found he was outside in a small area surrounded by trees. Lying on the grass he became aware of a full moon above him and a howling beside him. He looked in its direction to see a creature covered in thick, wiry brown fur and blood red eyes with a yellow glow. Its teeth were bared as it growled at him before heading into the trees.

James took a while to register that this creature was a werewolf and that he should try to escape while it was gone. Sitting up, James looked around him but found he didn't know where he was. He could see yellow glows in the distance and knew instinctively that he didn't have much time. The wolf was coming back; he needed to go, quick!

He got to his feet and began running furiously. He wasn't fast enough though as the creature flung itself at his back, pinning him to the ground. Before James knew what was happening he was being turned over and looking into the eyes of the werewolf. No longer were they red but completely glowing yellow. James didn't fight as he looked into those oddly soothing eyes. Didn't cry out as the creature sat upon his stomach tearing chunks out of his upper torso. Didn't scream or shout as it, and now several others, took bites out of him. He just lay there, still and calm, as he continued to look into those yellow eyes. And soon darkness took over.

* * *

**Lilchocolatechip01 **It was nasty, but essential. Hope this satisfies you for now.

**Miss Lady Padfoot **I take it you liked the chapter then? lol

**Marauders-Wzrd10** Have you started back at school yet? Sorry I didn't get to update any before you went back. Hopefully I'll be able to do it fairly regularly so you'll be able to unwind when you get home and read. You really think Lily's sassy? Interesting…

**Sirius'-muggle13** I already like you…We have the same name! I'm glad the characters are so great for you to read, I'm trying to make them as real as possible.


	19. In The Library

"I trust you learnt a lot this month?" Dumbledore asked.

James was once again in Dumbledore's office, his mind more occupied with his nightmare from the previous night than anything Dumbledore had to say. It had seemed so real to him, he felt like he had felt everything he should have but then he had woken up, and not even in the hospital wing, with not even a scratch on him. He had thought about everything that had happened and he'd reached only one conclusion; Remus was a werewolf. He shuddered as he thought of this again but, on realising he had been spoken to, followed it with a numb nod.

"That's good to hear," Dumbledore continued easily. "Because you could have spent another couple of months in there. How many times was it you were in contact with Mr Black?"

James' attention snapped back immediately. "How do you mean sir?" He asked as innocently as he could, which considering he was as guilty as sin, was very innocently.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "I do believe the two of you are in possession of a two-way mirror. Now, I do not intend to confiscate such items, on the contrary I find them to be extremely useful objects. However, you did break the terms of your suspension and as such must be punished. I think one week worth of detention should do it."

The relief James must have been evident as the professor laughed. "Well I do think this school could do with some livening up after a month of no pranks in respect to you." Dumbledore's mouth twitched as he looked around the room warily. Seemingly satisfied he spoke again. "Don't tell Professor McGonagall I'm letting you off so easily though, eh? She can be very scary when she wants to be…Not unlike a Hungarian Horntail."

James laughed and grinned at his headmaster. "No sir and thank you."

Dumbledore nodded gently. "Just try not to do it again, okay?"

James nodded in agreement.

"Well then, I think that is it, unless you have anything to ask?"

James thought for about asking about Remus or his dream but didn't know how so just shook his head. "No sir."

Dumbledore nodded once more, his eyes twinkling as though he understood. "Very well Mr Potter, you may go."

--------

"Remus!" Lily's voice sounded down the corridor, followed almost immediately by her running steps.

Remus stopped and, though groaning inwardly, turned to smile at his friend. It wasn't that he didn't want to see her, it was more a case of he didn't want her to see him. Not now anyway. He didn't like people seeing him on the days surrounding the full moon but he especially didn't like Lily seeing him. She was the only friend he had that knew his secret and she still stuck around, and because of that he cared deeply for her. The sight of him now was too much for him to handle some days; he couldn't bear to see her reaction too.

To his great surprise she didn't flinch or gasp or run away, she hugged him and said "Welcome back" as though he had just been on holiday.

Stepping back from him she blushed slightly, he couldn't help but smile.

"So I was wondering?" She began, getting his interest. "I passed Herbology last year, Lepton was so happy and I couldn't have done it without your help."

Remus kept his face and body language neutral but inside he was bursting at the sight of her dazzling smile.

"So, could you tutor me again this year? I mean obviously we would time it around your absences, and it would only be for stuff I was really struggling with, but you would really be helping me out."

Even without his sharpened senses Remus would have been able to detect the plea in her voice, and how could you ignore that? "Sure little flower, we'll sort something out later, okay? I just need to catch up with James right now."

James, who Remus had just seen, had been headed that way. He had looked up and met his eyes before turning a pale white and backtracking on himself and round a corner.

"Potter?" Lily asked him sadly. "His month's over already?"

"Yeah, looks like. Look, I really have to go, I'll see you later though, okay?"

He was already sprinting down the corridor and so barely heard Lily's strangled cry of frustration.

James didn't stop when Remus called him, didn't even look back, much to Remus' annoyance. Just as he was in reaching distance, James disappeared through a door, causing Remus' hand to clutch at empty air.

Getting more and more annoyed at his friends' odd behaviour, Remus followed him through the door. He was sure James knew it was him, why else would he have turned back around? But then, if he knew it was him the same question was still brought up because surely he would want to see his friends? As he contemplated this, Remus paid no attention to his surroundings, concentrating only on his thoughts and finding James.

And there he was between two bookcases looking intently at the titles on the top shelf.

"James what are you…" A thought hit Remus. Bookshelves, books, James Potter was in the library! Remus' question remained half asked as he concluded with another. "Doing here?"

James looked at him uncomfortably. "I'm looking at books," he stated obviously as he tried to hide a book but to no avail.

"Well obviously, what I mean is-" Remus was cut off as James hastily put the book back; knocking it and several others off the shelf.

"Er, I have to go. You can pick those up for me, can't you? Thanks, you're a pal." James asked and answered before Remus had chance.

Sighing but picking up the books Remus caught sight of a title that didn't fit with the other. _Werewolves of lore and today: A most Accurate Compendium._ Chills ran through him as he realised what this could mean.

* * *

**Sappjody** I do have another couple of stories lined up; I don't know when I'll get around to putting it up though.

**Marauders-Wzrd10** This is only a short chapter, but it goes some way to explaining the last one. I'm in England so I go to the 6th form of my high school. I could have gone to proper college, but I'm glad I didn't 'cos loads of people have come back 'cos they didn't like it! And no one really finds school fun, not until they've left anyway!


	20. The Debate

To say James was scared of Remus wouldn't be strictly true because, in all fairness, he wasn't. It was just that when he looked at Remus he no longer saw Remus; instead he saw the creature that had attacked him in his nightmare and _that _scared him.

It had been a few weeks since then and he had been avoiding Remus like the plague. Not an easy feat when they shared not only the same lessons but the same friends, house and dorm too. He was embarrassed to realise he was relieved when Remus had given up trying to talk to him and had instead withdrawn inside himself, talking only to professors or Evans, or unless it was really important. James had no idea what his behaviour was doing to Remus, but he longed to forget about everything he had seen and worked out so that he could have his friend back. Even Sirius and Peter had noticed so things must have been bad.

"You've got to try patching things up with Remus," Sirius advised James, thinking the two had had an argument. "You've been friends for too long to throw it away."

James knew Sirius was trying to help but he wasn't.

"Sir, just leave it, please. It's not like we've had a fight or anything, I just saw something about him that I'd rather not have done."

Sirius looked at him eagerly, waiting for an explanation.

James shook his head.

"Oh, come on mate. We're best mates, and you can't say something like that and not tell me." Sirius pleaded with puppy-dog eyes.

"It's not for me to say," James said sadly, trying to ignore the face.

Sirius nodded, his face turning cold. "Fine," he said getting up and walking away.

'Great,' James thought. 'That's two people I have to apologize to.'

--------

Life was going good for Lily. She was spending more time with Remus now that he and James were going through whatever they were going through (Remus refused to talk about it), she was easily maintaining her position as top of the class for every subject and she and Alex were making plans to go to France as part of an exchange trip with Beauxbatons. All in all her first term was going well so far, and it was still only October; October 31st to be precise.

A feast was being held that evening but until then students had to attend lessons. It was their lunch break when Lily next got to speak to Remus, after that was Defence against the Dark Arts.

"Are you two not speaking yet?" Lily asked Remus gently as she noticed his three counterparts enter the Great Hall and sit at the opposite end of the table, James pointedly looking in the other direction. Remus shook his head making Lily sigh. "Look, I know Potter is an insolent brat but he's always been a good friend to you. I don't see what could be so bad now."

"He knows," she heard Remus' whispered answered.

"About wh…Oh, wait, that's what this is about? He knows your little secret so your not friends anymore?"

"No, but look at him. He doesn't want to know me."

Lily looked over, a glare on her face as she met eyes with James. "Of course he does. Anyone who doesn't is crazy."

A smile formed on Remus' face. It was only a small one but she was glad it was there, it was the first one she'd seen on him since this whole thing started. "I think you're the crazy one," he told her.

She faked offence, pushing him lightly. "Look, I'll talk to Potter, everything will be better by tonight's feast."

Remus looked at her with a frown. "I'm not going to be here tonight," he reminded her quietly. "Hold on, what are you planning on doing?"

Lily just laughed. "You'll see."

--------

"…And so you see, in today's world Vampires do not need to resort to the blood-sucking of humans to gain their food. In fact, many vampires prefer the drinking of milk and lemon juice to the salty taste of humans." Their new Defence teacher was telling them. Her name was Professor Sheldon and with her dark hair and pale face many of her students thought she herself was a vampire. Indeed her specialist subject seemed to be vampires, as the second years had learnt; at least one lesson per week was dedicated to them.

Lily raised her hand, which didn't surprise some because she was forever raising her hand, but it did others because she was interrupting their professor during mid-speech.

"Yes, Miss Evans?"

"I was wondering, professor. If what you say is true (Of course it is, how dare you insinuate my teaching is anything but?), then why are people so afraid of them?" Lily noticed Remus was staring at her wide-eyed, he knew where this was headed, but she dismissed it easily.

Professor Sheldon looked momentarily fazed before a smile crossed he face. "That is a very good question, Miss Evans. And I know just how to answer it."

Sheldon stood in front of the rows of tables; her arms stretched outwards, her palms together. "This half of the room," she waved her arms and the tables on the left hand side of the room turned ninety degrees so that they now faced the right wall in court-room style. "Are to be against vampires while this half." She waved her arms once more, this time the tables on the right turned to be facing the left wall, and these too were in court-style fashion. "Are in support of them. We are having a debate 'Why are people so scared of vampires in today's society?'" She quoted the topic title as she wrote it on the board behind her. "Now, begin."

Lily smiled as it did, this was better than she could have hoped. She and Remus were supporting vampires, the Marauders where on the other side of the room, she could make them all see without them realising.

"Lily, what did you do that for?" she heard Remus' voice hiss behind her.

She turned and smiled brightly at him. "What?" she asked innocently. "Sheldon did it, not me."

Remus sighed. "Lily, you know what I mean."

Lily just stared at him. "Look, do you want them to be alright with your wolfishness or not?"

"Well…"

"Miss Evans, do you have something to add?"

Lily flinched, what was the last thing that was said?

"Um…I guess I could." She muttered darkly. "It's about werewolves though, not vampires."  
Sheldon nodded. "That's quite alright, just link it in somehow."

Lily nodded, 'Think link, think link,' she thought wildly. Suddenly an idea hit her and she stood up to speak.

--------

James' attention had been wandering during Defence, what kind of person thought a debate was a good way to teach? It had been snapped back when he heard the word 'werewolves' though. Looking up now he saw Evans stood up addressing the people in the room who, surprisingly, were sat in silence listening to her. Why would anyone be listening to Evans of all people? She spoke so much rubbish at the best of times; James was beginning to think her head was so far up her…

"The whole idea for the distrust and fear of vampires comes from the misconceptions people have of what they should be like. Vampires have, in truth and myth, always been an evil creature, hypnotising their victims, drinking their blood, killing those unworthy and so this idea of them has always stuck in our mind of what they should be like that it's hard to remove it. That they are changing their ways, finding alternative, less aggressive means of food sources does not matter to these people who are unwilling to change, and that is their prerogative, but how can they simply judge on an idea and not what they know?

"This does not apply solely to vampires; other creatures are misunderstood for their violent behaviours. Take werewolves for example. For three nights a month they turn into bloodthirsty creatures and hunt for fun. It is not their fault they do this, they have been turned through bite or, in some rare circumstances, are born like that. Yet when we know of a person who is a werewolf what do we do to them? We shun them, we turn our backs on them and turn against them. We forget that for almost everyday and night of the year these creatures are human, trying to live a normal life. We forget that they don't choose to live like this, nor, I am sure, would they want to if there was any kind of alternative, our fear and hatred of such creatures takes over."

James was getting uncomfortable by this point, Evans seemed to be looking directly at him as she spoke, as though she knew and this whole speech was a charade meant to cover up a message intended for him alone. But, and this was more unsettling, what she was saying was true. James had been staying away from Remus because of what he was for a small minority of the time, he had forgot all about the things they had done for one another and all the things they had done together. It wasn't right.

"So they're not evil all the time," he heard a voice sneer from behind. Turning around he saw Alex. "There's still those three nights a month when they go around killing people, ripping them to shreds and leaving their family with no body to bury or grieve over. There's still that creature inside the person whenever there isn't a full moon. That creature that is just waiting to be released and quench its thirst for blood. Just like a vampire. No matter how much it can try to change, it is _always_ going to want blood, nothing can change that."

Remus was on his feet now. "No, you can't change their want," he said aggressively. "But they can ignore it. Not everyone needs to give into their urges Alexandra. And tell me, do you have any idea what it feels like to be alone? To be left with no one to talk to, no one to share your life with because of a curse you can't control? To have to go through the daily pain and rejection?"  
James smiled as he heard no words from Alex, but could see her shaking her head as answer.

"No," Remus continued. "You don't. It's not easy for werewolves or vampires so how about you shut up with the comments and go sc-"

"Mr Lupin that is enough!"

Remus shut up and sat down again. Lily continued to stand; James noticed her smile down at Remus, squeezing his hand gently as, it appeared, did Alex as she was making some kind of noise behind him.

"Alex just made a good point, these people do have creatures inside them, but nobody is perfect 100 percent of the time. In fact, I know for a fact that Alex is quite nasty for at least 3 days a month, sometimes more." The room laughed, James turned to look at Alex who was shooting daggers at Lily.

"But like I was saying," Lily continued over the quiet murmurings that had now started. "We forget that the creature is within the person and that, as a general rule, that person is more human than the rest of us. Whatever evil they have inside them, they can counter it so much that we don't realise what they're going through. They live half-lives, those who have learnt their secrets disown them, those who haven't they have to hide their secrets from. And really, isn't that enough penalty for them without us adding to the burden and letting our feelings control us?"

She sat down again after that, the whole room burst into cheers and applause, even Professor Sheldon was sniffling quietly. After the lesson was over James pushed all his feelings aside and went to find Remus to make amends. 'If he'll accept it,' he thought gingerly.

* * *

**Marauders-Wzrd10** He he, I don't need to have fun at school today, I didn't go in. I couldn't be bothered with it and we weren't going to do anything anyway so I decided to write all that instead. Enjoy it. Oh, and England's not all that great.

**Sirius'-muggle13** Wow, I didn't really have any plans for explaining the dream, but there'll be more to come so I might do, we'll see if I can fit in anywhere. And James is happy to see him; he was just more freaked out than anything.

**Away with the Fairies2** I'm glad you like it :D


	21. Crazy Girls

James didn't get to speak to Remus that night. After the lesson Remus disappeared, James went to the Common Room but there was sign of him, nor was there in the dormitory. As James was heading down from there back into the common room he came across a red-faced Lily who was furiously shooing a first year off a couch before sitting there herself. All thoughts of Remus vanished as he went to comfort her, unsure why he felt the need to do so.

"Hey Evans, what's up?"

Lily faced him and the first thing he noticed was that her normally shining emerald eyes were full of water.

"Potter, go away. Don't you have some food to poison down at the Feast or something like that?"

The Feast, he'd completely forgotten about that too!

"No," he answered. "I don't feel like going, I'd much rather stay here with you."

"Yeah? Well I don't want to stay with you."

Even though she said this, James couldn't help but notice that she made no attempt to move.

"Well that's good." He commented with a slight smile. "Because you weren't the sole reason I came up her. I was actually looking for Remus." He looked at her, trying to judge her reaction.

She looked at him with a stony glare. "What do you want him for?" she asked coldly.

"I wanted to apologize for the way I've been acting lately," he saw Lily's eyes widen. "But if you don't want me to know where he is then I can't tell him, can I?"

He could tell she was choking down the shock as she said her next comment.

"You mean Mr 'I'm-too-good-to-apologize' Potter actually wants to make amends?"

"Yep, that's right," James answered, ignoring the sarcasm that had so obviously been there.

"Well what a shame he's not here then. He's gone home for a few days."

Home? James knew it was a full moon and he was fairly certain that Lily knew about Remus from what she had said earlier that day. But then if she knew and before had been a deliberate attempt to get through to him then she knew James knew then she didn't need to play along with the cover story. Unless she _didn't_ know and he was just hoping that the whole scene before had been dedicated to him, but why would he want that? This was so confusing!

"Oh," he said eventually for lack of anything better.

He sat in silence, every-so-often looking sideways at Lily who was still looking angry, staring at the flames of the fire.

Lily wanted to be left alone and the Feast had seemed like the perfect chance to be just that and then Potter had come and ruined it for her, just like he ruined everything. And then, to top of a rubbish day, he hadn't taken the hint, he'd stayed there while everyone had gone to the Great Hall and now kept looking at her. What was with that?!

'If he looks at me once more I swear on Merlin's grave I'm going to…Right, that's it!'

"What are you looking at?" Lily snapped.

"What?" he asked innocently. "I'm just wondering what's up with you."

"What's up with me?" she asked loudly, glad there was no one around to see her lose her temper. "Hmm, I wonder? Could it possibly be that there's an arrogant little creep sat beside me who keeps looking at me, putting me off my thoughts?"

"It could be," he said in that ever-cheerful voice Lily hated. "But you were angry before I got her so it makes sense that it's not me that's the problem.

She had no response, it was true she was, but she wasn't about to tell him that, nor was she going to tell him the reason.

"No, I wasn't," she said lamely after a moments silence.

"Yes, you were, I saw you."  
"I wasn't," she said defiantly but even as she said it a tear rolled its way down her face.

She brushed it away quickly, hoping he hadn't seen it. No such luck.

"Evans, what's the matter?" he asked her again, more gently this time.

"It's nothing," she said as more tears escaped. "I just had a fight with Alex, that's all."  
"A fight," he frowned at her. "About what?"

She looked at him, his eyes showed a concern she'd forgot he had. It was warming and soothing, she couldn't resist answering.

"That stupid debate," she muttered darkly and began telling him the entire story:

_"I'll see you in a few days," Remus told Lily as she embraced him in a tight hug._

_"Yeah, good luck." She whispered to his retreating figure. It waved before turning a corner._

_With a sad smile Lily turned around to find her faces inches from Alex's She nearly jumped but the look on Alex's face kept her grounded; anger and hate mixed one._

_"Merlin Als, you scared me."_

_"Don't 'Als' me," Alex said in a vicious whisper. "What was all that about?" About how I'm 'nasty for at least 3 days a month'?"_

_Lily giggled, half with nerves and half with relief. "I was just joking with you Alex, calm down. You'd have said the same thing about me if you'd thought of it."_

_"No," Alex said. "I wouldn't." Lily knew she was lying. "And that wasn't a joke. That was a spiteful little comment, something I'd have expected form Cissy or a Slytherin, not you."_

_Lily's face reddened in anger. "You're comparing me to a Slytherin?" She all but shouted. "I'm nothing like them."_

_"Oh, I don't know." Alex said, equally as loud but in a drawling voice. "You're obviously not against using your friends to suit your needs and you're quite good at keeping secrets from us too."  
"What are you talking about now?" Lily asked shortly, having lost her patience a while back._

_"Remus," was all Alex said. Lily gasped and Alex continued. "You didn't tell me you were going out with him."_

_Relief crossed Lily's features once more. "I'm not going out with Remus, or anyone else for that matter. And even if I was, it would be none of your business."_

_"Say you're not," Alex said looking unconvinced. "You_** _are_** _hiding something, I can tell. I_ _**will** find out Evans, don't think I won't."  
She walked away then so Lily stormed up to Gryffindor tower._

"That was the worst of it," Lily cried, the tears falling freely and openly by now. "She called me Evans. Alex never calls me Evans, only…" Lily trailed off as she realised who she was talking to and what she was doing.

"Only I do," James finished, oblivious to why she had stopped.

"Yeah," was Lily's quiet answer.

James felt so much sympathy towards her at that moment that he wrapped his arms around her. She cried into his shoulder but he ignored the dampness spreading through his robes, just taking in her closeness instead. 'Merlin, what's up with me today?' He thought, bewildered by his attitude towards her.

"I've missed this you know?" Lily's mumbled words sounded. She looked up into his eyes. "Us hanging out, I mean, being nice to one another."  
James nodded. "Well I never did understand why we stopped anyway,"

"What?" she cried jumping to her feet immediately. "That's because you're so dense that nothing will get through. Honestly Potter, I can't believe you sometimes."

She stormed upstairs, angrier with herself more than James. James remained seated staring after her perplexedly.

"Girls," he muttered quietly. "They're so crazy sometimes."

* * *

A/N: I know this is a pointless chapter, and believe me, I had NO fun writing it, but it was the only way I could think to introduce the fact that Alex and Lily are fighting and to do a bit of niceness between James and Lily like Chrissy wanted. So anyway, there it is. I don't think there'll be anymore until the weekend, unless I get bored again tonight.

Rae 


	22. The 7 Day Payback Plan

Males have this way about them, no words needed to spoken for forgiveness to be achieved. It is better for them this way, they can return to the way things were without betraying their 'cool' exterior and displaying emotions. With a simple look all things that have happened are forgotten and things return to the way they were.

Girls though, are a completely different matter. They have to confront the problem head-on and discuss their feelings in order to return to normal. This isn't necessarily the only route they take. There is also the stubborn option; the one where both parties refuse to apologize, instead trading catty comments behind the others backs, spreading secrets and finding new friends. In these circumstances it is hard for the friendship to be returned to its former glory.

And so, by following these rules, it is of no surprise that the day Remus returned him and James were friends once more. There was no mention of the time they had not spoke, though the topic of Remus' wolfishness was all James could talk about. By November 9th James interest in the topic had dwindled and the four friends were back on form, planning their next prank.

The same could not be said for Lily and Alex who were still not talking. Alex had started to hang around with Narcissa, in lessons she ignored Lily and in the Common Room she would say something to Narcissa whilst looking pointedly at Lily. The two would laugh loudly and though Lily tried to ignore it, it was hurting her in ways she couldn't describe. With Remus back talking to James he spent less time with her and with Alex not talking to her, Lily was alone.

Well, alone wasn't strictly true, she was friends with almost everyone in her year, but she wasn't close to any of them. For someone to sit with or have a conversation with these were fine, but when what she really wanted to do was pour her heart out to her best friends, she had no one. Another notice on the Gryffindor message board about the Exchange Trip made her concentrate her efforts on that. Applications had to be in by the end of the month and, with the way things were for her at the moment, Lily felt like going to Beauxbatons for a year was her only choice.

As well as this she was still trying to think of a perfect punishment for James. True, when she had mentioned it she had seemed like she knew exactly what to do, but in truth she didn't have a clue. She was a planner, and as such needed to come up with the perfect idea and plan it to the last detail, only every time she got an idea the plan didn't go too well. Hundreds of ideas were floating around her head but she knew they wouldn't work. Maybe she was going about this the wrong way.

"Think Lily," she murmured to herself.

She was sat in the common room bent over a piece of parchment, books spread around her. To a passer-by it looked like she was doing homework, every-so-often she would remember to let a spark out of her wand to make it seem even more like that. In truth she had "borrowed" some books from the restricted section (Sometimes it was good to be on friendly terms with the librarian), and was looking through them to find what she wanted. She was getting nowhere though, and the constant noise wasn't helping her. Once more the portrait opened, she was about to snap at whoever it was when she heard the voice.

"That was a great one, one of the best." James Potter said loudly to his laughing friends.

"Yeah, who'd have thought that the Slytherins looked so good covered in feathers?" Sirius asked in agreement.

This set off another wave of laughter, not just from the Marauders but those around them.

Even Lily smiled, though for different reasons. Hers was a wicked smile as all that she'd been trying to work out came to her in a sudden wave. Standing up she took her parchment and quill and headed for her dormitory, leaving the restricted books on the table in the hope that the boys would see them.

"Prepare yourself Potter," she whispered as she walked past them.

--------

Lily sat in the Great Hall eating a slice of toast. She had no plans for what was going to happen, only a list of the things she wanted to happen. She would cross them off as she did them, starting with the letter that was due to arrive any minute. Oh, there it was, the Owl Post.

She had written it last night, a simple little riddle to get him thinking:

_For seven days and seven nights be on you guard,_

_What you'll get is what's occurred._

_In 168 hours you'll be free of me,_

_But if you'll change, we'll have to see._

She was proud of it, even more so as she watched James' face frown in confusion and then hand the note to his friends. She was sure Remus' eyes flicked at hers, but they were gone so quickly she wasn't certain. Poor Peter looked even more confused than James while Sirius seemed to be laughing. Sirius screwed up the note, throwing it casually on the floor. "Load of rubbish," she heard him say loudly. Smiling to herself Lily set off to her first lesson, silently anticipating what was to come.

--------

Potions, so much had happened there, where to start first? They were doing Vanishing Potions, turning inanimate objects invisible. When used on a living creature the least it could do was bring out boils, the worst…well, that was probably best not to be considered.

"Hey, Evans, lend me a vial." Lily heard James beg.

She turned to look at him. "Where is…Sure, Potter." She said with a small smile.

Carefully she dipped a spare vial into the potion; luckily the vial was the same shade as the potion or this wouldn't work. Holding the top, the only bit that wasn't covered, she handed it over, knowing he would have to touch the potion. She flashed him one more smile then turned around to bottle her own. To her dismay the screams she was waiting for never came. Five minutes they sounded, she turned around but they weren't coming from James. They weren't even coming from a boy; Alex was stood at the back of the room waving her hand around in agony. Lily turned around guiltily as Professor Jenkruss swept past to go and inspect the hand.

"Silly girl, I warned you not to touch the potion."

"But I didn't," Alex cried. "I only touched this vial."

Jenkruss picked it up cautiously; her trained eyes saw bits of potion along the bottom rim. "Whose is this?" she asked Alexia who shrugged.

"I picked it off the table," she said.

"Whose is this," she asked again. Louder this time and to the whole room.

Everyone, including Lily, was looking and shrugging or shaking their head.

James interrupted the silence. "I got it off Lily Evans," he said smugly.

Jenkruss stormed over to where Lily was stood. "Miss Evans, does this vial belong to you?"

"Yes, but-"

"50 points from Gryffindor and a detention next week," Jenkruss interrupted. "I have little patience for people who consider it fun to hurt others, especially those who hurt their friends."

She apparently didn't hear the "ex-friends" uttered by Alex, Lily did though. With tears in her eyes, she welcomed the sound of the bell as she was dismissed from lessons and Alex told to go to the Hospital Wing. She wasn't seen again that day.

--------

Sat at breakfast the day, Lily tried to avoid the looks she was being given. James was smiling at her, apparently impressed by her attempt to poison him the day before. Alex was staring at her venomously, not happy that her hand was bandaged and that Lily had tried to poison her while Remus was frowning at her.

"Lily," he said sitting beside her. "That was a dangerous stunt you pulled."

Lily rolled her eyes. "You know what? I really don't care. You only care because I nearly hurt your precious little friends."

Remus looked at her strangely. "You know that's not true. You could have hurt yourself doing it, and don't you even care that you hurt Alex?"

Lily shrugged, trying with all her might to fake not caring. "Why should I? It's not as though she's never hurt me."

"So this whole thing is just a little payback?" he asked. "The point wasn't to get James; you planned on it going to Alex?"

"Sure, if you like." She said half-heartedly as she stood up and walked away, not even bothering to wait to see James' face at his new letter.

James looked up as an owl hooted above him before dropping a letter on his lap. Tearing it open James read:

_The first day didn't go to plan,_

_But that doesn't mean there'll be a ban._

_Six days left to make you see,_

_I wonder what todays will be._

James frowned as he read this. "Remus, I've got another note." He said as his friend came back over.

Remus scanned it and, James noticed, gave a quick glance to the doorway of the Great Hall. When James looked there was no one there though.

"Well be careful," was Remus' answer. "You don't know for sure that it's Lily who's doing this. What happened yesterday might have just been her trying to teach you to bring your own stuff to lessons."

"But there were no other 'incidents'," Peter pointed out to the group.

"Actually, there was." James admitted.

Remus didn't ask what because of the red face on James, though he couldn't help but continue. "Well then, it can't have been Lily, can it? She wasn't seen all day yesterday after Potions."

"The boy has a point," Sirius said between mouthfuls of food. "If Evans was locked up in her dorm all night she can't have been the one who-"

"Yes, thank you Sir," James interrupted before he could tell them what happened.

Sirius nodded in a 'no problem' way making James roll his eyes.

"Ok, so if it's not Evans who else can it be?" Peter asked.

The bell rang and the Marauders stood up. "I don't know, but we'll find out," James said confidently.  
Sirius nodded. "Yes, you want to get them back after yesterday don't you?"  
James grimaced and nodded, Remus couldn't contain his curiosity any longer.

"What happened?" he asked.

James shook his head, no way was he going to tell his friends that he'd somehow lost his way walking down the corridors and when he'd finally found his way again he was half-dressed and not even in his own clothes. He was wearing a torn shirt and a grey skirt with laddered tights. He didn't need to tell them, Sirius already was, making everyone but him laugh loudly.

---------

History of Magic, what could she do now? The list was in front of her as she tried to select one. She didn't care that she'd got into trouble for yesterday; it was worth it just to see Alex's face. She didn't mean that, not really, and she would have preferred it to have been James she'd got but she wasn't perfect, she didn't_ know_ he would somehow manage to avoid touching it. But todays would be better; today there would be no mistakes.

"What's that?" a voice beside her asked. Lily turned and saw it was Alice.

"Just a list of stuff I want to do before the weeks over. I'm tying to think of one to do now."  
Alice stifled a gasp, Lily could tell. "You mean you're not taking notes?" She asked in her cheery voice.

"Well, no, but I've read this in the text book." Lily said uncomfortably. "I can make them from there later."

Alice nodded, smiling. "Well, okay. I better go back over there. I'd do number 7 by the way."  
With that said she was back sitting and chatting quietly to Marie. Lily looked down at number 7 and grinned. 'Alright Potter, I hope you're ready.'

Lily waved her wand discreetly under the table and a large white ball appeared on her lap. Picking it up, she began bouncing it on the table. Each time it hit the table it would make a hollow sound and bounce up higher. The higher it got the louder the sound, luckily Professor Binns didn't seem to notice, apparently not much could distract him. She noticed James looking down at her curiously and smiled secretly as she bounced it towards him. She watched as he put out his hands to catch it and it passed right through them. She watched as it bounced off his forehead lightly and came back to her perfectly. Giggling, she did it once more, once again it passed through his hands and bounced off his forehead. He looked in amusement, nodding as she made a motion to do it once more. She did so, watching in glee as again it passed through his hands and flew towards his stomach. She waited for it to hit it with as much force as it could but it never came. It passed through his stomach as well, hitting the wall with super-force and breaking. Its pieces fell to the floor and a vine appeared, spreading its way across the wall. Lily's face became one of pure shock.

'That wasn't meant to happen,' she thought angrily.

She spent the rest of the lesson staring at the parchment, wondering what was going wrong.

--------

_Those tricks gone wrong and five days left,_

_It's no wonder you're sat in jest._

_You will not escape what I have for today,_

_But it all depends on what you say._

"These things get weirder and weirder," James commented as he and his friends made their way into Transfiguration. "I mean honestly, 'it all depends on what you say', such a pathetic attempt at making that rhyme."

Lily scowled as she heard him; he said a nasty thing, so he would get a nasty punishment. Yesterday's trick had failed, so had the one she had tried that night too. She'd hoped to make him fall off his broom as he'd been trying out for the Quidditch team, unfortunately he'd moved quickly and the shot had got a third year instead (they hadn't been more than two metres off the ground at the time). Todays should be easy though, she knew what she'd be doing and she'd spent last night practicing it.

She sat quietly waiting for the lesson to start. About half way through the lesson she made her eyes take on a glazed appearance and stood up.

"Miss Evans, do you have something to say?" McGonagall asked.

Lily ignored her as she walked towards the back of the room; towards James. Wand in hand, arm outstretched she pointed it just millimetres away from his neck. She could see him gulping in fear and smiled mentally. She could stop now, she only wanted to see him afraid, but she was having too much fun.

Ignoring McGonagall's cries to sit down and stop it, Lily cast a spell. A Tickling Charm. James' body began to shake in laughter. He squirmed in his chair as the tickling became stronger and stronger. Satisfied, she carried on the act by shaking her head gently, as though clearing it and blinking a few times, when she stopped her eyes were back to normal. People were looking at her and she shifted uncomfortably. "What's going on?" she asked as her eyes drifted to the squirming James.

"Just what I was going to ask you," McGonagall said behind her, making her jump. She'd almost forgotten they were in a lesson.

Lily frowned, continuing to act like she didn't know what was happening. "What do you mean professor?"

"You did this, and I want to know why."

Lily looked back at James. "I did that?" She asked in a bewildered tone. "Are you sure?"

"Quite sure," McGonagall said, losing her patience.

"But…I don't remember doing that."  
Now McGonagall frowned, James laughed loudly so McGonagall waved her wand, making him stop squirming and laughing but his face had a permanent smile on.

"Well you did, and memory or no memory, you should be punished."

"But, professor…" Lily said.

"Professor, wait," James interrupted. Lily watched as McGonagall faced him and he answered her unspoken question. "It wasn't Lily," he said.

"Mr Potter, I think I can trust my eyes, thank you very much."

"No, I mean it was Lily, but it wasn't her. Her eyes, they weren't her eyes. They were all glazed over, as though someone were controlling her."  
McGonagall looked at him disbelievingly but slowly nodded her head. "Alright, fine. You'd better be on the lookout Miss Evans." McGonagall warned before dismissing the class early.

--------

_We're three days down and four left to get through,_

_What happens now is up to you._

_For one thing just smile, for the other frown,_

_And before I forget…Look Down._

James looked down and saw his plate was covered in leeches, screaming he jumped up, pointing wildly at his plate. People sat staring at him while his friends looked bewildered, as far as they could see his plate was a normal plate of pancakes.

"James, what's up with you?"

"Plate…Look…Leeches…Look!"

The three friends looked at each other before facing James. "There's nothing there," they assured him, but he wasn't listening.

It took them ten minutes to get him calmed down, by this time the bell had gone for first lesson and they were late. They had Herbology and their teacher was always late himself so they didn't get in any trouble. As they began working on re-potting the Mandrake Roots, James became pale.

"James, what's up?" Sirius asked him after a few moments.

James pointed at his plant which, to him, was not a plant. It was a giant worm, with teeth bared at him. With all the noise and distractions he was making, James received a detention.

Every lesson was like this, he would be doing something and then a slimy insect was sat before him, and he would start gibbering like an idiot. Five detentions he received that day, and he lost 247 points. People weren't happy with him, and his friends were starting to worry. Lily sat in her dormitory that night smirking to herself.

--------

_Seven minus four, three left to go,_

_But for today, this isn't so._

_A day to regroup, to stay hidden from you,_

_You're getting close. Hey what do you know?_

James really did think these messages were becoming less easy to understand, but it was a Saturday so he didn't complain that there was nothing around to ruin it. He stayed away from the common room (deciding it must be someone in there to get him at night), and got his food directly from the kitchens. His day was spent outside by the lake, his friends thought he was crazy, "It's the middle of November, why are you going outside?!", but he knew he was safe there. His night was spent in the dormitory doing, and this really was the scary thing, homework. Lily was quite pleased with herself really.

"Congratulations," a voice spoke to her.

She looked up from her book to find Remus stood in front of her.

"For what?" she asked confused.

"Oh, come now little flower, you're a good actress but you're not great."  
Lily looked startled. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course not," Remus said in his unconvinced, sarcastic tone. "And I suppose this is all just a coincidence that you're around or have something to do with every little thing that's happened to James this week?"

"I wasn't a couple of nights ago when he was swearing a skirt," she pointed out. When she said it she knew she'd just admitted guilt.

Remus smirked. "Here, let me give you a bit of advice…"

--------

_Two days left, aren't you glad?_

_Few tricks left to make you sad._

_But don't forget…_

_You're not free yet._

Speaking to Remus last night made Lily realise she was using the wrong kind of tricks; they were basic, things James had probably used at primary school. She needed something big, something he would never think of, and then it hit her. Now, all she needed was the right time.

--------

"Hey James, watch out!" Sirius called to his friend.

They were in potions detention for the 17th time that year, Jenkruss was running out of things for them to do and so was making them reorganise her potions cupboard. They were to take each bottle off the shelves and then restack them in alphabetical order. When they were on opposite sides of the cupboard the easiest way to pass them to one another was by throwing them, hence the 'watch out'.

James caught it expertly and placed it on the fourth shelf down.

"Can you think of a more boring detention?" James asked as he put another away.

"Well," Sirius said. "There was the cleaning of the trophy room or the letter writing to parents for McGonagall. Now_ that_ was boring."

"Oh yeah, I'd forgot about that one. Here, catch."

Sirius caught the potion and threw one back while James was still looking at him. James put his hands out to catch it but the potion bottle flew over them, hitting his chest squarely and breaking.

"Sorry mate," Sirius said by way of apology. He was going to say more until he saw James collapse to the floor. "Jay…James!"

James didn't answer, though he could hear Sirius' cries. Coloured sparks rose from his body and hovered there for a few moments before settling back in. James' eyes opened and the first thing saw was Sirius' shocked face hovering above him.

"James?" It asked.

James sat up tiredly and nodded. "No, I'm the tooth fairy." His voice didn't sound like his voice, in fact it sounded quite feminine. "What the-"

Sirius began chuckling quietly, James stare at him as though to say 'what?!' Sirius' hand went into his pocket and came back with a mirror in response. "You make quite an attractive girl."

James snatched the mirror and looked at himself. "Sir…" he said quietly, nearly dropping the mirror. His hair was longer, just past shoulder-length, it also had highlights in. His eyes looked brighter, the introduction of more eyelashes added to this effect. His lips were thinner and appeared to have lipstick on. His body looked different too, thinner and more girly with small lumps forming on his chest. "What did you do to me?" he asked angrily.

Sirius shrugged. "I didn't do anything, you did it all yourself."

"Why would I want to turn myself into a girl?"

Sirius shrugged again. "How am I supposed to know? Who knows what goes on you twisted little mind." Laughter was in his voice, James wasn't happy that he was finding this so amusing.

"Sirius, you turn me back right now or I swear…"  
"Mr Potter, do you have some kind of complaint?" James turned around to see Professor Jenkruss looking at him with shock. "Sorry _Miss_ Potter."

James scowled at her while Sirius began laughing loudly. Both stopped when Jenkruss looked at them sharply.

"Mr Potter, I suggest you head up to the Hospital Wing and see if Doctor Nedalski can reverse your transformation. Mr Black, please continue with your detention."

Both boys did as they were told, knowing better than to argue with the woman.

Doctor Nedalski had never seen anything like it before; he had no idea how to reverse it. He did tell James that it probably temporary and would go when the potion had run its course, until then he would just have to deal with it. It was the next day now and he had to eat, down in the Great Hall, in front of people. 'Can this day get any worse?' he thought miserably as people stared at him as though he were a crazy man or began laughing openly at his appearance. Ignoring them he sat down, just as he did so the owl post came. A letter dropped in front him, he recognized the writing immediately. Groaning he opened it and read.

--------

Lily smirked as she saw James the girl enter the Great Hall. Laughing quietly she saw the owl post flying in and looked over as he read the note she'd written the night before.

_It'll all be over by light of the dying sun,_

_But make sure you don't forget this fun._

_Today will be the worst of all,_

_With every prank, large or small._

This was the final day of her 7 Day Payback Plan, and she needed to make sure it was a good one. On top of walking around like a girl, James Potter would be on the receiving end of a few pranks. Every one of his major pranks would come back on him, very publicly and very harshly. Starting now.

--------

James was helping himself to some bacon when he had the sudden urge to get up and dance around. He did just that, from jumping on the table, to hurried twirls and even the splits, James Potter danced his heart out without even wanting to. He ended by working his way up to the staff table and grabbing hold of Professor McGonagall. A Tango later, James stopped what he was doing and stood in the middle of the Hall rooted to the spot, afraid to move in case the urge to dance came over him once more. It didn't come, but the need to kiss McGonagall did. When he did she stared at him as though she wanted to kill him, she settled for a detention.

In Herbology all the plants were transformed, turning into Albanian Pixies, identical to those he made from the chess pieces. Instead of causing chaos around the room they targeted James and only James. By the end of the lesson his clothes were torn, his long hair tatted and a mess and he was starting to fear for his life.

His next lesson was Transfiguration; he'd tried to skip lessons for the rest of the day but his friends wouldn't let him and McGonagall warned him that if he didn't turn up for any of them that day he'd have more than a detention to deal with. He wasn't sure if he was happy or not that nothing had happened in the first half of the lesson. What relief he did feel vanished as the second half of the lesson drew to a close and the animal he'd been transforming into a chalice refused to change back.

"Professor," he called.

"What, Potter?"

"This mouse, it's not turning back."

"Don't be silly Potter, of course it will." McGonagall waved her wand at the chalice but it didn't change. She tried once more, this time James tried at the same time, the chalice exploded in a mixture of metal shards and mouse fur.

"Potter!" McGonagall shouted angrily.

"It wasn't me," he protested as he wiped some fur off his shoulder.

"Funny, because I seem to remember you doing something similar to Miss Glover just last week."

James smiled as he remembered this. "I did but I didn't do it this…time." His eyes widened as he realised something. "Professor I think you should be looking at-"

Before he could point the blame the bell rang signalling the end of Transfiguration. McGonagall didn't seem to care about whom he thought as being the one to do it, all she knew was that he had been involved in a similar incident and been the culprit.

"Class is dismissed," she said over him. "And Potter, report to me tonight at 7 pm promptly."

After their break came Care of Magical Creatures. James felt pretty sure he would be safe here, but that was proved wrong when the creature they were examining, a Flobberworm of all things, bit him. Now, under normal circumstances he wouldn't have thought anything of it, but this being an herbivore creature, and given the record of mishaps today, he couldn't ignore it. His Professor dismissed his complaint that his finger was hurting, saying it was impossible that the Flobberworm had bit him, but now that James was sat in Defence Against the Dark Arts and his hand was turning a violent shade of purple, he knew he hadn't imagined it.

"Professor, I really need to go to the Hospital Wing."  
Professor Sheldon looked at him. "Mr Potter, please. I am trying to teach you about vampires here."  
"Yes professor, but you don't understand. Look," he held his hand up so she could see and the whole class turned too. "Eww," came the chorus of cries. Sighing, Sheldon let him go.

--------

Lily was sat in the Great Hall eating her lunch when Remus came over.

"Are you not done with this?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" she asked a little surprised, so far she hadn't done anything James hadn't done himself.

"Lily, this is dangerous."

"Remus, please. Think about what I've done. Have I done anything precious Potter hasn't?"  
Remus looked at her. "No…" he said slowly.

"Well then, why is it that what I'm doing is dangerous but when he does it, it isn't?"

Remus sighed. "Because he doesn't target one person, and he's used to the spells. He practices them before he does them."

"And so have I, so it's all ok isn't it?" She stood up angrily but he pulled her back down.

"No, it isn't. Look at yourself Lily. You're living to get even with James because of something he did over a year ago that he doesn't even realise he did."

"That is not the only reason," she argued, but she knew he was right. "I'm just trying to teach him to think before he does things. To make him see that his pranks hurt."

"And that's fine Lils, but one prank would have done. Not a week dedicated to payback." He stood up himself then and went back to sit with his friends leaving Lily to fume and think. He was right, and she was feeling guilty that James was getting so hurt, but she needed to do this. Besides, there was only one thing left for her to do, surely Remus wouldn't mind if she did that and then stopped.

--------

Potions, the last lesson of the day. True, James had escaped anything happening to him by staying in the Hospital Wing for the last couple of hours, but he wasn't expecting nothing to happen to him during this hour too. And yet, nothing did. He was starting to relax as dinner time rolled around and still nothing had happened.

He entered the Great Hall and took his usual seat, not two minutes later he found himself covered in syrup. Looking around wide-eyed he heard hooting. The evening owl post that came on Monday evenings had arrived. A swarm of owls flew in, shedding feathers and dropping letters. James, disguised as a girl and now covered in feathers so that he looked like an over-grown bird, stared at the letter in front of him, afraid to open it in case it was some kind of cursed mail. He told Sirius to open it for him and read out the message.

"It says:

_The sun's passing over,_

_Our weeks now over._

_Make sure you've learnt your lesson,_

_Or prepare for a whole lot more messin'_

You know mate, I think you've found yourself a secret admirer."

James wasn't listening to him though as he fell to the floor for the second time in twenty-four hours. More sparks rose from his body, when these went back in again James opened his eyes, this time there was a crowd of people around him.

"Are you alright?" several asked.

James sat up and nodded. "Never better," he said, happy to find his voice back to normal. He took his own mirror out as he surveyed his appearance, finding everything back to normal, well, except for the syrup and feathers. 'It really is over,' he thought happily. "Never better," he repeated.

* * *

A/N: Ok, long chapter, I know, but I wanted to get it all fit into one. I'm not really sure where I'm going with it, because there won't be any mention of it in the next, and if it sounds rushed or there's loads of errors I'm sorry. I was doing a hundred and one things as I wrote this and it's all off the top of my head instead of copied like usual so, yeah, my apologies.

**Marauders-Wzrd** and **Away With The Fairies** Wow, I hope this was fast enough for you, and if it wasn't sorry, but it was a lot to write!


	23. Quidditch in December

The Quidditch try-outs had been a long, exhausting process for all involved, spanning throughout November. It had been split up into many parts; the first being all hopeful's showing off their broom riding skills. All those who showed promise were given a number between 1 and 4. James was a 1, Sirius a 2 and Remus a 4, Remus was surprised to find he had a number; he'd only tried out because the others had made him. Each number was to attend a series of training practices playing in a different position depending on their number. They would then alternate positions. This took a couple of weeks but those who showed skills in a particular area were called back one last time. This time they would play in that position with the rest of the team to see how well they worked together. Everyone was told to meet up again the next night. By now it was December and the winter weather, which had set in during early November, was getting wilder and wilder. On that particular night a blizzard was starting.

A group of about 30 sat and stood shivering in the changing rooms when the two current members of the Quidditch Team arrived. A Beater, Cathy Durham, and the Captain, Tommy Sadiron.

"Right, I know its cold outside but it is important that we get this sorted before the end of term so that we can get started with practicing." Sadiron began as a still quiet descended over the group. "I want to thank you all for trying out and to tell you that you've all been great but, unfortunately, only 5 of you will be picked. A further 7 will be selected as a sub-team. Does everyone understand?"   
The whole group nodded.

"Good, so the sub team are, Cathy, will you do the honours?"

Cathy smiled at the group before speaking. "Right, so -er- they position of Keeper belongs to…" She consulted the parchment in front of her before reading the names. "Frank Longbottom. First Beater – Harold Kennedy, second Beater – Matthew Ernings. First Chaser – Marie Glover, second Chaser – Remus Lupin, third Chaser – Halley Kitting. Seeker belongs to Natalie O'Connor."

Cheers went around the group and James and Sirius slapped Remus on the back in Congratulations. As quiet descended once more, Sadiron continued.

"Alight, now, if you're name isn't called then I'm afraid you haven't made the team. Please feel free to try again next year though. This years Keeper will be Sean Towson, the first Chaser, after myself of course, will be Hugh Somers and the second, Richard Wenham. This year we will also welcome two second years onto our team. Sirius Black is to be the new Beater and James Potter is the new Seeker."

More cheers erupted while those who hadn't been picked left the room almost in tears, and not for the being forced to walk through the chilling cold.

After they had gone Sadiron spoke one last time. "Practice will begin tomorrow at 7am prompt. Everybody is to attend so I suggest you get a good night sleep."

James, Sirius and Remus left the changing rooms after that, talking excitedly but, though none would admit it, feeling nervous about the next day.

--------

It was a good job James and Sirius were such fans of Quidditch. Sadiron insisted that all 7 members of the team practiced every morning and every night and they were to stay during the Christmas holidays to practice then, too. The reason being that there were too many new members on the team, if they didn't all start training they'd be a mess for their first Quidditch match in January. It was lucky for Remus too. He had only been selected for the sub-team and so only needed to attend practice a few times a week; this meant he was always free when the full moon approached.

The three became quite exclusive, always talking about Quidditch or discussing tactics, it pushed Peter, who hadn't got past the first stage, out.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked one day. James and Sirius had gone to the kitchens for ice cream, which Remus crazy with the cold weather, but it gave him the chance to talk to Peter who was sat alone in the common room.

Peter looked up at him with wide eyes. "Yes," he squeaked. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Oh I don't know." Remus said nonchalantly. "Maybe because we've been leaving you out a lot lately."   
Peter sighed. "That's ok; you've got new things going in your lives. It's no big deal."

Remus nodded. "Still, it can't be fun can it?"

"Well it's not," Peter admitted. "But I've made some new friends, so I don't mind."   
Remus shifted in his seat, looking at Peter with a new interest. "Oh, who?"

Peter flushed. "Anita Buckley. She's in Hufflepuff."

Remus nodded thoughtfully. "I think I know her; our year, spends time with the Slytherins, blonde, right?"

"Yes," Peter answered with a scowl, not happy that Remus knew who she was. He wanted her to be something for him alone, like the others had Quidditch.

"Well," Sirius chuckled as he and James sauntered over. "It's about time."   
Peter smiled weakly, anticipating what was coming next, which was 15 minutes of teasing, despite him denying she was his girlfriend. Next were the taunts for Remus, who also hadn't had a girlfriend yet.

"I'm not ready for one," Remus protested. "I've got stuff going on, it wouldn't be fair."

"Oh come on mate! We're talking about one girl. She'll go hysterical when you break it up, but she'll get over it and you can move to the next in line."

Remus looked at him disbelievingly, marvelling at his total misunderstanding of girls. "Sirius, you have a strange view on relationships." Remus chuckled. "And if I did go out with a girl it would be because I liked her. I wouldn't dump her just because she got too boring."

"And you say I have a strange view," Sirius muttered before saying in a louder voice, "You get a great variety that way."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I have too much respect for you," he mumbled.

James, sensing an argument headed, tried to stop it quickly.

"So Remus, if you _could_ have a girlfriend, who would you ask?"

"Yeah, come on, who?" Peter squeaked, relieved to have the attention focussed away from him.

Sirius just looked at him expectantly.

"I – uh-"

"It's not Evans is it?" James asked in shock and disgust. "Because you two spend a _lot _of time together."

"No! We're just friends; she's like a sister to me. But there is someone…"

--------

Christmas was approaching fast. The Great Hall was decorated with the largest Christmas tree ever seen. All sorts of magical decorations adorned the tree, making it an enchanting scene.

All the Quidditch practicing was paying off, the team started to resemble an actual team rather than a bunch of people playing the sport for fun. Sadiron was convinced that by the time the match came around they would be good enough. The team was tired but, as the last day of term came, Sadiron decided to reward his team with the day off for their hard work. The professors decided that, because their pupils were too excited to concentrate on their work, that they could have the day for packing or, if they were staying, "study time".

Remus took the opportunity to see Lily. He hadn't spoken to her for a few weeks and he felt a little guilty about it. He knew that she, one of the very few that would, would spend the day wisely, studying in the library. That was where he headed.

Lily was indeed sat in the library, books spread around her, quill scratching at the parchment mindlessly. She might be sat in there, but that didn't mean she was working, far from it her mind kept drifting she'd overheard Remus saying the other day. Something hurtful.

"Hey, little flower," a voice spoke behind her.

'Think of the devil,' she thought miserably as she ignored him but could see him moving to sit in the chair opposite.

"Lily, hello," he said waving a hand in her face.

"Remus," she said harshly. She glanced up to see him looking slightly taken aback. "Nice of you to come visit your little sister," she spat.

His eyes opened widely. "You heard that?" he asked surprised.

She nodded, her eyes trained on the quill which was moving from left to right on the parchment. It seemed to be writing something.

Though she couldn't see it, he was frowning. "I thought we'd established that we were nothing more than friends?" He asked bewildered.

She nodded again, this time though she looked at him. "We did, and I'm fine with that," she was annoyed that he thought that highly of himself. "But I thought I meant something to you, something more than just a little sister who you never speak to. We're supposed to be best friends Remus."

"We are," he said boldly.

"Are we? I don't think we are. When was the last time you spoke to me?"

He looked down; she was pleased to note that he at least had the decency to be ashamed.

"And I know you're busy with the Quidditch training and everything, but surely you can find a bit of time to talk to me? I mean it's not hard to find a spare minute. Unless you really do just see me as a little sister? Someone to speak to when you're bored or your friends have deserted you, just someone to check in with."

"Of course I don't. You, Lily Jacqueline Evans, are my best friend in the entire world. You are the one I entrust my deepest secrets to, the one who will always be there for me and vice versa, no matter what happens." He paused, taking her hand, she was tempted to pull it back, but didn't. He lifted her face so that they were eye level. "I promise you, that from this day forth I shall make it my mission to speak to you once a day, even if it is only for a minute."

Lily laughed, all the anger she felt melted away. She was being stupid; she knew she was, so what if he thought of her as a sister? Some siblings were close, not all of them were like her and her sister.

"I'm sorry for being a total toad to you," she said sadly.

He smiled, "You, a toad? Like that's any different to normal."

She hit him playfully on the shoulder. "You've only just got in my good books again," she warned. "Don't push your luck."

He laughed. "Well, since I'm back in those good books, and I now have my best friend back, can I tell you something?"

"Sure," she said, frowning a little at the way he was acting, there was a big grin on his face.

"I'm going to ask Marie out."

Lily was shocked, she tried to hide it but she was. "Really?" She had never really thought of him being with anyone, and she didn't really seem his type. Where was all this coming from?

"Really." He said his grin growing.

Lily spent the next half hour being bored witless, whilst fighting her jealousy, at being told all about how much he liked Marie and why he did. 'I already know this! I share a dorm with her for Merlin's sake!' She thought silently, wanting so much to shout them at him.

A clock chimed 11 and she jumped up, Remus stopped talking mid-flow and looked at her curiously. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"I…need to go pack."

"I thought you were staying here for Christmas."

She shrugged. "I changed my mind, alright?"

He nodded. "Hold on, I'll come with you." But she was already gone, sprinting down the corridors, leaving all her stuff behind.

* * *

A/N Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'll post again at the weekend, hope this little one is ok for now while I try and think of a way to bring my ideas together instead of just having random little things happening. 


	24. Bad Mood

Lily had planned on staying at Hogwarts this year for Christmas, she didn't like the idea of the long journey home on the train sat on her own, nor did she relish the idea of seeing Petunia and listening to her catty comments. She wanted to just stay at school where she could lock herself away in the library, doing her homework and in the evenings she was going to curl up on a chair by the fire and get lost in one of her tales of chivalry and bravery. She longed for one of those stories to be her life. For her Prince to come and save her from this life that she didn't want to face.  
'My Prince, ha! That's a laugh.' She thought bitterly as she sat in the empty compartment waiting for the train to leave. 'My Prince is infatuated with someone else. The closest my life gets to one of these things is that it's pathetic!' She threw the book across the compartment, as she did so the train gave a lurch and set off on its journey. Lily sat in silence. It was bothering her but she didn't want to retrieve the book, she would only end up throwing it again. Instead she ended up doing her holiday homework; it was then that the root of her problems entered the compartment. Or at least, some of her problems.  
"Oh look at that, the bookworm's doing her homework. Think we should get her to give it to us when she's done?" Lily looked up when she heard this voice, it was Narcissa's, behind her stood Alex.  
"Sure," she said. "Evans is always happy to help, aren't you petal?"  
Lily glared at the two. "Go away," she said quietly.  
Narcissa looked down at her, eyes wide. "Did you just invite us to sit down? How nice of you." She sat opposite Lily, Alex sat beside her.  
Lily continued to glare. "What do you want?"  
Alex's face twisted into a nasty grin, Narcissa's remained the same, the same look of contempt on her face. Neither spoke though, expecting the other to do it for them.  
Lily sighed impatiently. "Well, if you're not here for anything in particular I think I'll go find another compartment and leave you two to it." She stood up, ready to gather her things.  
Heading to the door a spiteful voice spoke behind her. "I think you're forgetting something bookworm."  
Lily turned around to face the two girls; with a cold glare she said one simple word. "What?"  
Alex was skimming through the book Lily had thrown not one hour previously. Narcissa looked at Lily with complete disbelief. "Bit old for this kind of rubbish aren't you?"  
Lily shook her head. "You can never be too old to dream. Too old to believe in that sure but not to old to dream. Now, can I have the book back please?"  
"What's in it for us?" Alex asked, slamming the book shut.  
"What do you mean? It's my book."  
"Finder's keepers, bookworm. We found it; we're going to keep it." Narcissa teased.  
"Unless you give us something in return," Alex concluded.  
Lily's eyes narrowed as she looked at the two with disbelief. Sighing she asked, "What do you want."  
Narcissa and Alex smirked, "Nothing much," they said cryptically. "We just want that lovely charm bracelet of yours, the one you got last year."  
"I don't have it," Lily said, knowing she wouldn't give it to them even if it wasn't broken.  
"Yes, you do," Alex said. "I saw it in that box it came in."  
Lily rummaged around in her trunk, determined to show the two that it was broken. She grabbed the box and opened it. She could see Narcissa looking at the box, as Lily carefully took the bracelet from inside she looked at Narcissa once more; her expression was cold and hard. Ignoring the look Lily lay the bracelet on her palm; it lay separated in two parts, its charms dotted around.  
"You see, it's broken. You can't have it."  
Alex just looked at Narcissa, waiting for her to say or do something. What Narcissa did say isn't what she expected.  
"That's fine, you can keep the tacky thing, and we'll just have the box."  
"No way!" Lily protested.  
"Who said you get a choice in the matter?" Narcissa said standing and taking the box from beside Lily. She emptied its contents and then pushed the drawer back in so that it transformed back to its small shape and could be slipped into her pocket.  
Lily jumped to her feet, intending to tackle the box off Narcissa, but Narcissa was too fast for her. With a casual wave of her wand Narcissa stunned Lily and turned to leave the room.  
"Alex, give her the book," she commanded. Before leaving she turned to look at Lily once more, she was lying frozen still on the floor. "We'll let you free later, don't worry." With that she left the room. Alex gave Lily one last glance of loathing, threw her book at her and left.

"How are we supposed to win the cup when you lot don't put in the effort?" Sadiron shouted at his team. It was only the first day of the holidays and already they were turning up late and not putting the proper effort in.  
"How are we supposed to win the cup when we're exhausted?" James countered. Several murmurs of agreement went around the room.  
"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked looking at everyone.  
Cathy stood up, trying to keep peace. "I think what they mean Tommy is that they've been doing a lot of practising lately and they need a break."  
"They had yesterday off," he said angrily.  
"Yes, but one day isn't enough to recuperate from two weeks of physical exhaustion. We need a break Tommy," Sirius told him. "We're good, you know it, we know, even the other teams know it."  
"But we're not the best!" Sadiron interrupted. "We need to be the best."  
"And now we're back to my point," James said. "We can't be the best if we're exhausted. I know this is your first year as captain and that you want to make a success of it, but if we get too tired then we're not going to be any good to anyone." Once more murmurings of agreement went around the room.  
Sadiron looked unimpressed by this. "Potter, if you don't like it you can leave." James made no attempts to move. "Go on, you're off the team."  
"What?" he asked in complete shock.  
"You heard me, now, tell O'Connor to get in here when you get back to the castle."  
James was going to object but a look in Sadiron's eyes made him think better of it. He just grabbed his broom and trudged back up to the school angrily.  
  
They hadn't come back as promised, in fact after waiting the 6 hour train journey, and then a further hour after the train had stopped, Lily had begun to think she'd be forgotten about and left there for the rest of her life. It was at this point of despair that the snack cart lady had come in to tidy the compartment. When she saw Lily she gasped and let her free, Lily thanked her and ran off the train, all her things flying wildly behind her in her grip. When she got off the train, however, her parents weren't there.  
She was upset her parents hadn't waited for her, but the more she thought about it the more she decided they just hadn't got the owl yet, she had only sent it last night after all. She could just phone them, yes that is what she'd do, phone them. Crossing through the barrier she headed for the payphones, it was only when she got there that she'd realised she had no muggle money.  
She gave up, sitting on her trunk and poking her fingers though the bars of her owl cage, whilst she tried to think of what to do next. After she had waited for half an hour her parents finally arrived.  
"Oh Lily, we're so sorry, we didn't get your owl until this morning and then we had to sort everything out and…Sweetie are you ok?" Katherine asked her as she gave her daughter a hug.  
Lily pulled away. "I'm fine, can we just go please?" she responded, not coldly, but not nicely.  
Exchanging a look with Katherine, Jack nodded. "Sure, come on, Petunia's waiting in the car."  
"Oh, joy," Lily said sarcastically.  
  
"Wake up, wake up, wake up," Peter cried to his friends, hitting each one with a pillow as he spoke. He didn't go near Frank, but his noise had woken him anyway.  
"Whaddayuwnt?" a tired Sirius asked.  
Remus, knowing what he wanted, was already out of bed and slipping his dressing gown on, Frank was slowly coming to his sense and crawling out of bed. Sirius still had his eyes closed, but obviously was awake because he had spoken. James, though, was still dead to the world. When he slept it was impossible to wake him up, save two things; a foghorn down the ear, or a heavy hit, as opposed to the medium one delivered by Peter.  
"It's Christmas," Peter said. "That means presents."  
Sirius was immediately out of bed, beating Frank who had somehow got entangled in his covers whilst trying to crawl out of his bed. Remus helped disentangle him, when he was free from his captor, Frank got to his feet. "What about him?" he asked gesturing at James.  
Sirius smiled wickedly, "Leave him to me."  
Knowing better than to argue, the three boys left the room, on their way down the stairs they heard a cry of agony and a cry issue from James.  
"Sirius you sneaky little…What was that for?"  
They could hear Sirius laughter and muttered words and then a loud crash, in what seemed like less than half a second later James and Sirius had joined them downstairs.  
"Let's get going then," James said eyeing the pile of his presents eagerly.  
  
"Lily, come on," Katherine's gentle voice spoke that same morning.  
Lily grunted and turned in her bed, her back to her mother.  
"Lily Evans, you get out of bed this instant!" Katherine's normally singsong voice took on a more authoritive tone. Still Lily didn't turn around. "You have ruined everyone's holiday so far, you're not going to spoil today as well."  
Lily rolled over again, facing her mother this time. "Then leave me up here and you lot go and have fun," she said calmly. She intended to roll again but her mothers hand grabbed at her shoulders.  
"You will come downstairs and have fun," Katherine said sternly. "Even if I have to drag you."  
Lily sighed and rolled her eyes. "No, I will not."  
Katherine let go of her. "Fine, you can stay up here. We'll be going out in a couple of hours, you don't have to come with us, in fact, I'd prefer it if you didn't." She walked out of the room then, leaving Lily in the darkness of her feelings.  
  
She could hear the squeals of delight coming from her sister in the room below her. No doubt she'd just got that diamond necklace she had wanted, 'Creep,' Lily thought darkly. Petunia was always the favourite of them; she got the better room, the better clothes, the better presents. True Lily wasn't exactly hard done by; it was just that compared to Petunia she wasn't as demanding and so got less attention. What she didn't realise was that the same feelings she thought about Petunia as being the favourite, Petunia thought about her. These were two sisters, disliking each other for a reason that didn't exist.  
Normally Lily would have been down there with them, joining in with their fun, visiting relatives and enjoying a Christmas dinner, but this time she didn't feel like celebrating the year. Her grandmother was dead, her best friend hated her, her other best friend was slowing losing interest in her and going off with his other friends (not to mention his new sudden liking of Marie), the only good thing she could think of at the moment was the prospect of going to Beauxbatons on the exchange. She could make a fresh start there, away from her home, away from Hogwarts; she just had to get in.  
She heard her family leave, they didn't pop their heads in to say goodbye and Lily felt a pang of hurt at how they had just forgotten about her like that. Having barely eaten for the last week, Lily soon began to get hungry. She went downstairs and into the kitchen. Making herself a sandwich she went into the lounge, there stood a tree, decorated beautifully with a simple star at the top; the star she was supposed to put on but refused to come down and do. She supposed Petunia must have done it instead. In front of the tree she saw a small pile of unopened presents, she could see open ones spread around the room, her families, but these unopened ones she knew were hers.  
She sat looking at them for a while, she knew her parents would want to be there when she opened them, but they had just left her in the house alone, what did they expect? The fact that she made them go without her did enter her mind, but so did the idea that if they had wanted her to go with them they would have put up more of a fight in getting her out of bed. After several minutes of arguments like these going through her head, Lily gave in and opened the first present.  
When she got to the last present she was almost in tears. Everything she had asked for she had received, from a new scarf and gloves set to the limited edition copy of The Summoned Power, there were only 100 copies of the book ever made and still her parents had managed to get hold of it. She thought back over the holidays, how horrible she'd been to them, how rude, how dismissive. She'd acted as though they weren't important, she'd let little problems effect the way she behaved around her family, and not for the better. With tears flowing freely and a shaking hand, Lily reached out for her last present. She pulled off the paper to reveal a jewellery box, in it was her charm bracelet, no longer broken but back together with the charms evenly spaced out, a new one added to the selection; a book. Lily stifled a gasp, now she felt really bad. How horrible she had been and still her parents gave her everything she wanted, and more. She gathered up her presents and took them upstairs. She was going to change; she was going to be better to them, even if it was just so they knew how grateful for them she really was.

* * *

AN: I am well aware this isn't my best chapter, so please no major flames at it. I'm not happy with it but I've left it long enough to not post it, and I can't post the next chapter without this one now can I? Smiles to self Yes, that means there's another chapter on the way, should be up today, if not tomorrow. We'll see how late it gets because I still have History homework to do, true I could probably do it at break but I'm not going to risk it. Smiles again I think that's all I was going to say, if I remember anything else I'll put it on the next chapter.

AN 2: Sorry about the way it's come out, I'm not sure what's happened.


	25. Presents and Talks

Back at Hogwarts the boys had opened their presents and were heading to the Great Hall for Christmas Dinner. When they got there the usual house tables were gone, replaced by smaller ones stretching the length of the room. Dumbledore sat at the head of the table, the other professors around it with the few students that remained close to them. The only seats left available were by Dumbledore. Having no choice but to sit there or starve, the four boys took their seats, Dumbledore smiling at them with twinkling eyes.

They had been sat for 15 minutes or so, careful of what they spoke about with their head teacher sat so close by. So far the topics had been Quidditch, during a moment of silence (which basically means they had stopped talking in order to eat something), Dumbledore spoke to them.

"A very interesting magazine you have under your bed, Mr Black." He said in a quiet voice, audible enough for the Marauders but no one else to hear.

Sirius, who was in the middle of swallowing his food at that moment began choking, Remus immediately began hitting him on the back to soothe him. James began laughing at his predicament and Peter frowned at Dumbledore, having no idea what magazines he was talking about (there's a reason he wasn't the quickest at understanding things, all to do with him being a very…not bright being.)

"I've never really saw the attraction of motorbikes myself," Dumbledore continued as though none of this was happening. "They don't fly and they make a lot of noise. Nothing like a broom."

Sirius, whose throat was still a bit saw after the aggressive attempts to dislodge his food, couldn't hide the relief that crossed over his face. "Oh, you mean _that_ magazine, sir." He croaked out.

Dumbledore's eyes, if possible, lit up more than before, a smile twitched at his greying moustache. "Yes, that magazine, although the other one was quite interesting too."

Butterbeer sprayed across the table, James had been taking a drink as Dumbledore said this. His laughter, which had been subsiding, came back and the liquid didn't quite make it down his throat before being expelled over his friends. Sirius' face was turning red but Dumbledore made no more comment on it. He was talking to Peter.

"Mr Pettigrew, I trust you've had a good day. Lots of presents. I, myself, received a delightful pair of lemon socks with an equally bright blue check pattern, what about you?"

Peter was a little surprised that the professor would speak to him directly, once he got over the shock he was speaking as though they were old friends.

"Well the guys went to Honeydukes and bought be sweets and chocolate and jointly bought me the Appleby Arrows' annual for the year. My parents bought me some of the latest tricks from Zonko's." When he had finished he looked quite satisfied and pleased with himself.

Dumbledore turned to Remus, "And you, Mr Lupin."

"Um…The same as Peter but my annual was the Chudley Cannons, and off my parents I got another stationary set." He pulled a face, as though to say 'could they have picked a more boring present?'

Dumbledore nodding gently before asking James.

"The Honeydukes stuff with a Holyhead Harpies annual. My parents sent me a load of new clothes and the like, for some reason they sent me some aging parchment. Not a clue what that's about," he trailed off, shaking his head at how odd his parents could be, but also because he felt a wave of sympathy spreading through him towards Sirius as he realised he was next to be asked.

"And you Mr Black?" Dumbledore urged gently.

Sirius' face darkened for a moment. "Sweets and chocolate from Honeydukes and Wimbourne Wasps annual." He said quietly.

Dumbledore looked at him. "Is that it?" Sirius nodded his head in an embarrassed sort of way. "I don't believe it is."

Four heads turned to look at Dumbledore as he continued to talk to Sirius. "Come to my office after dinner." Sirius nodded again, beginning to feel stupid.

Dumbledore stood up and everyone turned to look at him. "Merry Christmas to all," he said. "I must attend to some business but please, all of you take your time. I know for a fact that there are some delightful puddings organized for you and I will be terribly disappointed if you don't all enjoy them."

Smiles that already existed grew on people's faces as he exited the room.

--------

Sirius made his way up to the statue that he knew concealed the doorway to Dumbledore's office. When he got there he realised he didn't know the password. He called out every word he could think of but the statue would not move. Out of sheer desperation he said "Socks," to his surprise the doorway sprang open.

He walked quietly up the revealed steps; amazed by the things he saw when he reached Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore was sat behind a tall desk; around him in the room were what seemed like hundreds of shelves adorned with thousands of curious items. Sirius was in awe.

"Please, sit down." Dumbledore motioned with a smile.

Sirius did as he was asked, still looking around the room.

"Now, I understand – Mr Black, are you listening?"

Sirius' attention snapped back immediately, looking a little sheepish he nodded.

Dumbledore chuckled quietly. "Now that I have your attention I would like to say. I know that you have some, er, difficulties with your family, but that that doesn't mean they don't care for you."

"Prof…" Sirius tried to interrupt, but Dumbledore continued regardless.

"And there is something here for you," his eyes were twinkling again as he handed a small package to Sirius. "A little something. From everyone. Now off you go, I'm sure your friends will be waiting for you."

And waiting they were, in their dormitory. Sirius said his goodbyes and left the office heading to his dorm with the package in his hand. He walked almost comatosely, not paying attention to where he was going except the direction; consequently he fell over two steps and got his foot stuck in three. He didn't open it until he got back there with his friends.

"What's that?" Peter asked being the first to notice the package.

Sirius shrugged as he sat on his bed and opened it. "You've got to be kidding," he said as a small grin broke out across his face.

"What?" the other four asked almost simultaneously, turning to look at the object in his hands.

There in his hands were a pair of socks; deep purple with bright green spots. Laughter rang around the room, keeping the five boys in happy spirits for the rest of the night.

--------

The day before New Years Eve. Just 6 days ago she had made the promise to be the best daughter possible and she was pleased to say she was succeeding. Everyday she got up early and tidied the house and prepared breakfast for her family for when they got up. She offered to help with shopping or washing the windows and not once did she complain when she was asked to do something. She joined in with family activities, whether it was day trips or just conversations or playing games, she kept a civil tongue. She didn't even respond to Petunia's taunts and jibes, which, she noticed with distinct unhappiness, were becoming more frequent everyday. Her parents seemed to have noticed the change too.

Lily was fast asleep in bed, Petunia had just gone up herself and Jack and Katherine sat discussing their daughters that night.

"Those two…I'm proud of Lily for not fighting back, but I can't help but feel there's something wrong with her. That's not the girl we sent off to that place in September. She'd be getting back at Petunia with all she could." Jack said.

Katherine nodded in agreement. "And all that stuff before Christmas, then the sudden change. Jack, I'm worried about her."  
Jack, though looking solemn, but on a light voice. "It's Lily." He said calmingly, though for his wife or himself it wasn't clear. "Whatever it is, she'll bounce back."

"But she shouldn't have to," Katherine exclaimed quickly, her eyes looking sorrowful. "Jack, what if it's something really bad. You remember what it was like being her age, she should be happy and normal but she's more calmed and too accepting."

"Kathy, you forget, she's not normal, not the way we were anyway. She's probably just had a fight with that friend of hers – what's her name? The one who came last year? – And she knows she's at fault but is too stubborn to apologize. You watch come two weeks she'll be fine again." Though he was saying these calming words for his wife's benefit, he didn't believe them himself. He was just as worried for Lily; it was as though she had been replaced with some kind of robot. She showed no kinds of emotion and was so quiet. She was pleasant enough to be around, but it wasn't the Lily they knew.

Katherine smiled. "Yes, you're probably right." She sounded just as forced positive as her husband, and the look on her face was one of disbelieving. "Probably."

--------

The day before Lily was due to return to Hogwarts soon came and Katherine refused to let her daughter go back there in the state that she was.

"Lily, do you want to come to the shops with me?"

"Sure mum, just let me get my shoes on," was the emotionless response.

Five minutes the two were sat in the car and on their way to the local supermarket. They were sat in silence, Lily nodding her head to something unknown to her mother.

"Hey Lily?" Lily stopped the head movements and looked up. Katherine smiled at her. "What's say we ditch the shopping and head over to that ice cream place you've been looking at every day for the last week?"

A light shimmered in Lily's eyes, a glint of the eagerness she usually showed. "Sure," she said, a ripple of excitement running through her.

Katherine's smile grew as she pulled into the car park a short walk from the ice cream parlour.

"What do you want?" she asked, knowing full well what Lily's answer would be.

"Toffberry and mint choc," Lily said with a sly grin.

Katherine ordered herself a coffee and Lily a mix of ice creams she thought were disgusting together but her daughter loved; toffee, raspberry and mint chocolate chip. As she did this Lily found a table, eagerly taking the ice cream as it arrived. Seeing her daughter so eager and content, Katherine took her opportunity.

"Are you ok?" she asked suddenly.

Lily frowned and nodded. "Yeah…" she said slowly, not understanding the question.

"I mean," Katherine amended, catching her daughters tone. "Well, since you got back you've been very quiet and, not that it doesn't make a nice change, it's just not like you, so is there anything wrong?"

Lily hesitated a moment too long before answering. "…No."

Katherine shifted in her seat to face Lily directly. "Tell me what's up."

Lily looked into her bowl, as though it could say everything her mother wanted to know. 'Well let's see,' she thought miserably. 'My best friend hates me and has now made friends with the girl I hate to make my life miserable. The guy I like doesn't see me "that way", I have no other friends, not real ones, and Potter's getting to me more than normal. Not to mention the fact that my own sister can't stand the sight of me, it's nearly 6 months since Nana died and no one seems to remember and I'm starting to get stomach cramps.' At this last thought her arm flew over her stomach as though protecting it. "Nothing," she cried eventually, no way was she going to let her mother know all this.

Katherine wasn't satisfied with this answer though. "Lily, please, I can't help if I don't know what's wrong."

Lily sighed. "If I say guy problems can we just drop the subject?" she asked hopefully.

A small smile threatened to break out on Katherine's calm face. "Nope." Lily sighed again. "But it'd help."

For the first time in a long time Lily smiled, a proper smile, accompanied by a laugh.

Katherine was satisfied that Lily was opening up on at least one of her problems and contentedly downed the last of her coffee. "You done yet? We still need to go shopping."

In traditional Lily fashion a groan escaped her, what wasn't normal about it was that it was laced with pain.

"Sweetie, are you ok?" Katherine asked with deep concern.

Lily shook her head but stood up and headed for the car. Katherine followed her and once the two were safe inside it Lily spoke.

"I keep getting pains in my stomach," she whimpered. "And there was blood this morning."

Katherine couldn't help it, she began laughing. Lily stared at her angrily. "Mum!"

Katherine paused, a great smile on her face. "I'm sorry, it's just…" She started the car and began driving towards the supermarket. "You and I need to have a little talk…"

* * *

AN: I am so glad I got this done, I wasn't sure I was going to but I did, so here you go Katie, the update ;D


	26. Alice

Alice Howard, fellow second year Gryffindor, a pureblood born and raised. She was a medium height for her age, with mousy brown hair and pale blue eyes. Her parents, two of the most respected witches and wizards of their time, both worked at the Ministry. Her mother, a small woman with the same eyes, worked for the Department for the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts. In the past five years though, her interest in that area had decreased. She had taken to doing volunteer work at St. Mungo's, especially with her daughter away from home. Mr Howard, a tall, fair man was dedicated to his work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. As his need to be on duty grew he became distanced from his family, seeing them during late evenings only. It is, perhaps, for this reason that the causes for Alice's family changes came to occur.

--------

_When she had stepped off the train at the beginning of that summer, __Alice__ immediately knew something was wrong. Her father, always at work during the day, met her. Going home only further proved this belief. __Alice__ had found her house in a state of chaos. Empty boxes lay in every room, full ones stacked neatly in the hall._

_"What's going on?" __Alice__ asked quietly. _

_There was no time for a response from her father as a man, if you could call him that, came through another door. To __Alice__ he looked no older than eighteen, though her mother later assured her he was twenty-five. He has short dark hair, a tanned complexion and deep brown eyes. Though too old for __Alice__, he was the type of person she wanted to end up with, apparently so did her mother._

_She looked up at her father to find him shooting this man daggers._

_"Daddy, who's he?" she asked in a louder voice._

_"You must be __Alice__," the man said in a cheery voice._

_Alice__ ignored him, looking at her father for a response. "Your mother wants to tell you something," he said eventually._

_As he did so her mother entered the room and took the unknown mans hand. "I'm all done in there," she said, not noticing her daughter stood staring at her at the opposite end of the hall. If she had she wouldn't have taken that moment to accept the kiss he leaned in to give her._

_"Mum?" __Alice__ said, making her mother jump in fright._

_"__Alice__!" she cried in delight, walking towards her daughter. __Alice__ cringed as she came near. Her long brown hair had been chopped into some modern style __Alice__ had seen models wearing in Witch Weekly, her clothes weren't much better. A low cut, tight black top and a pair of hip-hugging jeans. She looked about twenty-seven, not forty-six. Her arms wrapped around her and __Alice__ could smell the perfume coming off strongly and was close enough to see the mass of make-up caked on her mothers face. "Oh darling, it's wonderful to see you. Come with me, I want you to meet a friend of mine."_

_"You mean a _boy_friend of yours." __Alice__ said coldly._

_Her mother laughed. "Darling, you make him sound like he's a child. But yes, he and I have been seeing each other as a couple."_

_Alice__ paled; she'd been hoping her guess had been wrong. She looked up at her father who shrugged before walking away._

_"Alice, this is Matt," her mother smiled at her. "We're moving in together and we want you to come and live with us, don't we honey?"_

_The man nodded. "Yes, that would be lovely." _

_Alice__ glared at Matt before facing her mother. "What about dad?"_

_There was a sigh and then __Alice__ felt herself being led into the living room that no longer felt like it belonged in her house._

_"Things haven't been working out with your dad and me for a long time and so we've both come to the agreement that it's best if we separate. Your father has agreed for you to come and stay with Matt and me."_

_"But I don't want to," __Alice__ said, furiously blinking the tears starting to form._

_"It's for the best darling; your father spends too much time at work for you to stay here. And we would love for you to live with us."_

_"But I don't want to," __Alice__ repeated._

_Matt had followed them into the room, now he spoke. "It has already been arranged. Your things are already at home…"_

_"But this is my home!" __Alice__ cried._

_"Not any more." Matt said harshly._

_She had cried as she said goodbye to her father and went to her new 'home'. She had cried as she entered her new bedroom to find everything there waiting for her, in neat little places. She only stopped crying when Matt came in and told her to shut her mouth because he couldn't sleep with all that whining._

_--------_

The next day she was informed that divorce proceedings were well under way. Her summer wasn't very good after that. She stayed away from Matt and tried to visit her father as often as possible. In some ways she began to resent her mother for doing this to her, but then she saw how happy she was and would feel ashamed at feeling such things. This Christmas though had been worse than the summer. She had kept in touch with her mother during the term and so had been informed of her intentions to marry Matt. Alice thought it would be a while off; a divorce took a while to be processed after all. But it turned out that proceedings had begun long before Alice imagined and so when she returned home for Christmas she was informed that the wedding would be on Christmas Day. Up until that day every conversation was about the wedding or the honeymoon they had planned; the one that didn't include Alice.

She had tried to get the wedding stopped, not because she wanted her mother and father to get back together, she had accepted their separation, but because Alice didn't like Matt. He didn't seem like a nice person who should be around children; he shouted at Alice at any available opportunity and had little patience for her innocent tales. She didn't want her mother to marry someone like that, but Christmas Day came and with it the wedding. Alice almost boycotted the whole event, and would have if she'd had anywhere to go. As it was she didn't, so she put on the best smile she could manage and tried to be happy for her mother, it was easier than she expected. With the wedding over she spent her days alone in her fathers' house, and though he slept in the evenings, Alice at least spent time with him then.

Now, the day she was going back to Hogwarts, she learnt an upsetting thing. A thing that kept her attention for some of the train ride back to Hogwarts, before she was interrupted by Lily.

"Alice, do you mind if I sit in here?" Lily's voice interrupted her thoughts.

Alice looked up at Lily, to her she looked nervous.

"Nope, but I'm not much company."

Lily laughed, looking a bit more relaxed. "That's okay, just so long as I'm not alone again."

Alice nodded but didn't question her. Alice went back to her thoughts; a tear escaped her eye, which Lily noticed.

"Are you okay?"

Alice shook her head and felt Lily's arm wrap around her in a hug before she even realised she'd moved.

"So you want to talk about it?"

Again Alice shook her head and Lily accepted this, just offering a shoulder for Alice to literally cry on. After a while she stopped sobbing and looked at Lily.

"I'm sorry, it's just…My parents split up in the summer, and my mum just married another man and he's horrible."

She could tell Lily didn't know what to say, but she looked sympathetic and that helped Alice.

"My mum loves him, so I shouldn't object, but I got this letter this morning and," she took a deep breath to calm the tears that threatened to start again. "They're making me change my name. I'm not a Howard anymore, I'm a Prewitt." The tears fell once more as she felt herself fading, becoming less of herself and more of that horrible man. What would happen to her father now?

Lily made a few sympathetic noises before speaking properly. "Maybe you could see it as a good thing?" she suggested.

Alice backed away from Lily's warmness and looked at her curiously.

"Well think about it, your dad can re-marry. You'll have two families; double the presents," she said with a sly grin to which Alice smiled weakly. "And you have a new name, you can reinvent yourself. I've heard you in the dorm, complaining about your hair and how you don't like the colour of it, how it's so pale you feel like you just blend in. What about a little something different to suit your name?"

Alice still looked bemused, but more intrigued by the idea too.

"Let's see," Lily said pulling out her wand. "Prewitt…How about a nice purple?" She flicked her wand at Alice and immediately her hair turned purple, Alice looked in horror at the windows pale reflection. Lily laughed. "Or green," still Alice looked horrified. "Or gold, silver, orange, maroon, blue." Each colour brought a new horrified expression until Lily settled down and chose a more suitable colour. "Black." She said eventually, making Alice smile in agreement.

"I love it," Alice said, as Lily pulled out a proper mirror to show Alice. "Thank you."

Lily shook her head. "No problem. Let me just add a few things."

By the time they reached Hogwarts, Alice was a new person. Her hair colour had changed from mousy brown to black with subtle red tips, her eyes were gently rimmed with a semi-permanent silvery eye-liner, guaranteed to last 3 months, or until the caster changed its colour. And her pale lips, previously so small, now looked fuller with the red colour that sat on them.

--------

Alice, feeling happier with herself followed Lily into the castle and up to Gryffindor Tower.

"Lily, you were on the train, right? Have you seen Alice?" Marie called from the other side of the room.

Lily looked back at Alice, the two smiled at each other before Lily turned to face Marie and motioned for her to go up to the dormitory. Alice led the way up there.

Shutting the door after Marie came in, Alice stayed quiet as Lily spoke to Marie.

"Marie, she's right behind you."

Alice could imagine the happy look on Marie's face before she saw it on the girl who turned to look at her, and then saw it change to one of confusion.

"Alice Howard, what did you do to yourself?!" Marie squealed.

Alice laughed. "I became Alice Prewitt."

Marie looked at her, more confused than ever.

"I think I'll leave you two to talk." Lily said quietly, squeezing past the other two girls and leaving the room.

Alice thanked her once more before dealing with Marie. She told her everything, in more detail than she had discussed it with Lily and when she was finished Marie squealed again.

"Well I have to say, Alice Prewitt looks _very_ good."

The two giggled and went to find Lily after that.

* * *

AN: Thanks for bearing with me, my computer is now fixed and the...whatever it is that blew up, been upgraded to a bigger...whatever it is to, hopefully, stop it blowing up again (I'm so good at explaining computer stuff aren't I?). So basically I can update...obviously! And should have more up before the end of the week. Enjoy it. 


	27. Introducing The Stress Reliever

Christmas was over, lessons had started and the second years settled quickly back into the normal routine, it was hard not to when they had Professor McGonagall for the first lesson of their first day back. For most people this was fine, but not for the Marauders. They needed something to relieve the pressure, and they had found just the thing.

"Why him?" Peter's voice squeaked from the corner of the dormitory.

Sirius rolled his eyes; trust James and Remus to leave them now so he had to explain it all to Peter. James was in a Herbology detention and Remus was downstairs talking to the girls so the duty of explaining the new plan of action had been designated to Sirius.

"Because he's a greasy-haired, suck-up." Sirius said with contempt in his voice. "Plus, he's a Slytherin."

This was not the real reason they had targeted this specific person. It was simply that he was better than both Sirius and James in Potions and they seemed to take it to heart.

"Oh," Peter said quietly, starting to understand but not totally there. "And what are we going to do again?"

Sirius fought back a burning desire to strangle Peter there and then.

Once more the plan was explained to Peter. He would attract the boys' attention, shout something at him or do whatever it is that Peter does to get a persons attention and then the other three would engage themselves in a five minutes of doing whatever spells they could think of and then leave and hope Peter got away safely.

"Why do I have to be the lookout, keep-him-busy guy?" Peter asked when Sirius had finished explaining for the sixth time.

"Because," Sirius said slowly, trying to think of a good excuse. "He'll get suspicious if we go up to him and start talking. You can spell him next time, ok?"

Peter seemed happy with this as he nodded and he went back to rooting in his corner of the dormitory.

--------

"Alright, there he is," Sirius hissed at Peter the next weekend. "Hurry up."

The four of them had waited outside the library practically all day waiting for him to come out. They'd missed breakfast and lunch and the anticipation they'd felt at the start of the day was slowly fading. But now, as he finally left the library, books piled up past his nose, the grins reappeared and eagerness took over.

"Hey Snape," Peter called. "How does it feel to know Slytherin are going to lose every Cup this year?"

The boy shrugged, these weren't things that mattered to him. Peter looked back at the Marauders for help; they just stared at him blankly.

Peter took a nervous breath before trying again. "Why do you spend so much time in the library? Do the books act as substitutes for the girls you can't get to go out with you?"

The boy stopped walking this time and turned to look at Peter, he scowled before turning back again and continuing to walk.

"The girls won't even go out with you out of pity," Peter said, feeling more confident at the obvious effectiveness of what he was saying. "That's got to feel bad."

There was a loud bang as the bottom book hit the floor and the one above that fell on top of it. Book after book hit each other but the boy strode past them, his hooked nose and cold black eyes staring hard at Peter.

"Look, I don't know what you want," he said, icy tones cutting into Peter. "But…gah!"

He had tripped on the hem of his robes and hit the wall with _smack._ Four Marauders stood around his unconscious figure, one looking scared, two grinning at their fortune and one semi-smiling, but obviously having doubts. Peter, James, Sirius and Remus began to work, feeling unconsciousness was not an effective way to relieve the stresses they felt.

By the time they had finished, some fifteen minutes later, the boy was wearing a fluffy lilac hat, his face was over-exaggeratedly coated in what appeared to be make-up and, as though this weren't enough, he had been put under the jelly legs curse. Satisfied they had left to appease their growing hunger.

--------

"Was it you four?" A shrill voice demanded.

Before the others even knew for sure who it belonged to, James was speaking.

"Evans, lovely to hear you, from where I imagine is over by the portrait."

The boys were sat in the furthest corner of the common room, debating what to do with their evening.

"Shut it, Potter and answer the question." The sharp voice spoke again.

James' brow creased in thought. "Well now I'm confused, how can I stay quiet _and_ answer your question? You're just giving us contradicting orders there."

"Potter," it spoke again in somewhat of a warning tone.

"James, may I sug-"

James ignored Remus' advice, choosing the bolder tactic instead.

"Evans, I don't have a clue what you're talking about." He said, almost sounding believable but not quite because of the smirk on his face.

"Severus Snape." Lily said simply, giving him keywords to refresh his memory. "I'm talking about Severus Snape. Was it you four?"

"Who's Severus Snape?" Sirius asked in a way similar to James.

Lily let out a frustrated growl. "Was it you four?" She asked again.

"Evans, we don't know what you're talking about." James lied once more.

At this point Lily seemed to snap. Her wand was out within a second of him finishing talking and, as though the look on her face weren't menacing enough, she had some words to share with him.

"James Potter you lying little toad. There was no need for what you did, no need at all; you're just a bully and a poor excuse for a human being." She pointed her wand at him threateningly. "You're going to apologize to him tomorrow, in the Dining Hall, at lunch I think. There'll be more witnesses. You three too, don't think you're getting away with it."

Sirius rose to his feet, amazed that Lily thought she had the authority to command him. "And if we don't…?"

She flicked her wrist casually, making the wand make a subtle movement up and down, as she did so she muttered something under her breath. "I can cause you a lot of embarrassment, Black."

His robes had vanished, as had the clothes he wore underneath. There stood Sirius Black, dressed in nought but a pair of underpants on a cold January night. Any other person would be embarrassed to be seen in such a way, would cover themselves up in anything nearby and escape to get clothes on, but now Sirius Black. Not when he had dozens of girls staring at his thin frame and bare chest, which showed signs of becoming well-toned, and not when it was obvious that this mass of ogling was annoying Lily no end.

'How am I supposed to teach them a lesson when they enjoy it?' She thought miserably. Scowling at everyone, she stormed up to the girls dormitory, putting Sirius' clothes back on as she went. This didn't stop the girls from continuing to stare at the boy, who any stranger to the school would think was a demigod the way the girls acted around him.

--------

The next day no apology came, but Lily did not challenge the boys for one, much to their surprise. They had expected somewhat more of a challenge from their regular goody-two-shoes, but none came and it made them nervous. But not as nervous as they should have, as they would have been, had they known what was going on in the school dungeons.

The boy was stood in an abandoned classroom, hunched over a cauldron. Continuously he stirred, adding ingredients every now and then and occasionally consulting a book beside him. He had special permission to be here, being Jenkruss' favourite because of his "Expert skills at all Potion-making". She allowed him the room to help him practice. If she knew what he really did he had no doubt he would have her help with it, but he didn't tell her. This was his special project. He would show them.

"They'll rue the day they messed with Severus Snape." He muttered, following it with classic evil laughter. Laughter that soon turned to choking coughs as he added another ingredient and the potion blew up in his face, releasing several different colours of gas clouds.

----------------

A/N: Sorry it's been such a long wait, and after it, it was so small. I've been in a real writing slump; I didn't want to write the chapter but I had to introduce Snape at some point. So yeah, my apologies.

I hoped you all checked out the previous chapter "Alice", before this one. Neither are the best chapters, but they're necessary. And if you haven't already there's another story of mine you can read, "Miracle", another L/J.

Um…Will update again as soon as possible, I just have a couple of history essays to write, I'm going to do one now, and the other probably at the weekend so I'll have a few nights to write, and I'll try and make it nice and long for you all :D

Rae


	28. A Series Of Unrelated Events

If any of you hadn't guessed, the chapter title is out of respect for the film I'll _hopefully_ be going to watch tomorrow! Lemony Snicket and Jim Carrey, what a brilliant combination.

* * *

Lily was in the library when it arrived. A letter, a simple letter, from a person she had yet to meet, that could change her life if she wanted it to. 

_Bonjour Lily,_

_Je m'appelle Tae, et je suis votre correspondant français. Aussi, je ne suis pas Français si je vais écrire dans l'anglais maintenant!  
__I applied for the exchange program and your name was the one I was matched with. Though it is not necessary, I thought you might like to hear some things about me before you let me loose in your school. So here it is;  
__I was born in __Italy__ but my parents were both English so I was brought up there until the age of nine, when we moved to __France__. Now, at the age of 12 and 8/9ths I attend Beauxbatons. I wanted to go back to __England__ and be reminded of all I miss out on; this is why I applied for the exchange. Well, that and I want to see if it's true what they say about Hogwarts and its secrets. I have a sister too, she's called Briallen, and we call her Brie for short.  
__I love to ride horses, can't get enough of them. I spend my holidays at the nearby stables helping around the place. I clean the stables and wash the horses then I get to ride them as payment. __C'est très bon__. That's not all I do, I like to just hang around with my friends too, helps me relax.  
__I've got a little picture thrown in the envelope somewhere too.  
__So now you know a little information about me, what about you?  
__I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon._

_Tae_

Lily looked at the letter in surprise. She hadn't even been told she had been accepted for the exchange yet and already she was getting letters. But mixed with the surprise was a smile, a smile for her dream happening. Now she could get away and make a fresh start without any of the worries she had at Hogwarts. To have that for a year was all she wanted.

She immediately wrote a reply.

_Hello Tae,_

_I've lived in __England__ all my life and I have to say, my town? It's really boring. I mean, there's stuff to do, but it's not the world, and that's what I want to see. That's why I applied for the exchange, I want to see the world, see the things I miss living here. When I'm not at Hogwarts I live with my sister, Petunia, and my parents.  
__I love reading all books really, though I'm particularly fond of ones adventure in. I love to swim in the schools lake too. It's too cold to swim at the minute, but there's nothing that beats a nice swim on a summer morning while everyone's still in bed. It's heaven. I don't really get much free time, I'm either studying or in a club, but if I do get some I go for walks around the castle, exploring, looking for all those secrets you want to find.  
__I feel, as you'll be taking my place, I should warn you of something before you come here. You'll get landed in the same house as two bigheaded, prank-pulling, over-the-top little toads. There are two more that hang around with them, they're not as bad, but they don't try to stop them wither. The girls are nice though, well, Alice and Marie are. Let's just say that Narcissa and Alexandra aren't the nicest people in the world.  
__I think that's about it. Speak to you soon._

_Lily_

Satisfied, Lily sealed the letter, ready for it to be sent later. She looked in the envelope she'd received for Tae's picture. It was a magical photo. The blonde with her ice blue highlights smiled and waved at Lily, her hazel eyes squinting in the sun. Lily nodded in acknowledgment, set the photo aside and continued with her work.

--------

"Stop...Stop!" Anita panted in glee. Hands continued to tickle her. "Pete, please...I can't breathe!"

Peter stopped tickling his squirming friend. "Sorry," he said bashfully.

Anita's gentle giggling filled his ears. "Not a problem," she said, apparently recovered. "I can get you back now." She began tickling Peter in a similar way to the one he had just tickled her in.

"Ann..." He tried to protest, but she continued. With a sly grin he put his own hands out, grabbing her round the waist and tickling her back.

Her squirming made her let go of Peter, but it also made her fall backwards. She grabbed at his robes, bringing him down on top of her. It took both a moment to realise what had just happened, and when they did neither wanted to move apart too quickly. She looked into his eyes with a certain desire; he looked back with a reflected look. Taking his chance, Peter leaned in to kiss her; she looked like she was going to kiss him back until she regained control of herself. She managed to wriggle herself out from beneath him, making him fall that little distance to the floor.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Peter sat up. "No, I am. I know you don't -"

Anita waved him quiet. "It's just, with Severus and everything. I would really have liked to but I'm with Severus."

"I know," Peter said quietly. "I know."

An uncomfortable silence descended on the two of them, then;

"Maybe we should..."

"You know..."

Followed by the nervous laughter from speaking at the same time.

"You go first," Peter told her.

"I was just saying, maybe we should go back in. You still have a Potions essay to finish and I'm supposed to be meeting Sev..." Anita trailed off at the end, regretting mentioning his name.

To her surprise Peter agreed. "I'll see you later though?" He asked.

"Maybe," she said quietly, walking back to the castle.

Peter waited on the grounds for a moment and then followed.

--------

"...And she said that she would rather die than go out with him, and I was like "No way! He's really gorgeous. But apparently she used to go out with him and he really hurt her, and she didn't want that again. But I was still amazed, I mean, have you seen him? What person in their right mind wouldn't want to go out with him?"

Sirius rolled his eyes as Tacea continued to ramble on. This had to be one of his worst dates, she didn't even live up to her name! She was supposed to be silent, that's what was implied, but no, she hadn't shut up for the last three hours. How someone like that didn't get a sort throat was beyond him. He was getting very close to putting a silencing charm on her when he saw Remus across the hall.

"Tacea?" She continued to talk. "Tacea!" She stopped as he shouted at her. "I'm really sorry but I have to go, ok? I'll see you later."

She nodded, hurt on her face, but he didn't care, he'd needed to get away from there.

"Remus, Wait up."

Remus stopped and waited for his friend.

"Never let me do that again." He hissed, making Remus chuckle.

"We did try to warn you."

"Yeah...but I thought...I didn't realise she was _that _bad."

Again Remus under his breath laughed. "Well, then you should trust us more."

Sirius muttered something unrepeatable then looked at Remus. "So where were you going?"

"Just dropping some books off at the library, I was hoping to see Lily."

Sirius raised his eyebrows suggestively; Remus just rolled his eyes but couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.

"Are you sure there's nothing going on between the two of you? Because, as much as I hate to admit it, James was right, you two _do_ spend a lot of time together."

"You know, Sirius, mate, it is possible for a boy and a girl to be friends without having feelings for each other."

Sirius looked at Remus as though he were crazy then snorted. "Don't be silly; boys and girls are not designed to be friends, that is why they're so different. They are designed to be together, but as more than friends. Anyone who says otherwise is a fool."

Remus raised a quizzical brow. "So you're saying you could never be friends with a girl?"

Sirius nodded. "Exactly, that's not how we're intended to be. Well, not with me anyway, with someone like you maybe, but not me." He grinned confidently.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Remus asked, ignoring the grin.

"See, there it is. There are two types of men in the world; those who break hearts, and those who understand hearts. I'm the first one. I get interested in a girl, but I get bored of them easily, it's inevitable they'll fall in love with me so when we split I break their hearts. You, you understand what they're feeling, you're sensitive. You're the kind of guy who can befriend a girl, and get her to fall in love with you but no matter what happens you won't break her heart. You can't, you're the nice guy, I'm the bad guy, the guy mothers warn their daughters from."

Remus snorted, "Do you really believe this garbage? You think you're a bad guy? You're a nice guy with a penchant for breaking girls' hearts, that's all. And you think I don't? How little you know." He smiled secretly when Sirius gave him a questioning look then headed into the library with his books. A quick scan of the area told him Lily wasn't there so he headed back out only to find Sirius still there.

Smiling Remus walked away from him. Sirius chased behind him. "What do you mean 'How little you know'? What don't I know?"

Remus gave no answer, just continued to walk.

"Remus, REMUS! You tell me, right now."

Remus laughed as he stopped for his friend, winding Sirius up further with having no intention of continuing the conversation.

--------

James slammed his quill down with all the force he could muster, earning a few glares off older students sat around him. His head hurt and his hand felt like it was going to drop off, he'd done that much writing. Now his three weeks of homework was done he needed something to do. Ordinarily he would get the guys together and have a two-against-two game of Quidditch, but the boys had all left him hours ago to go do their own thing and James didn't really want to spend his time looking for them. Sirius had said something about seeing a "suspicious-looking statue" that he wanted to look at. Peter, who at the time had been playing chess with Remus, had very quietly said he was going to the Hospital Wing before limping out of the Common Room, none of the boys dared ask how he'd hurt himself sitting down. Remus had, well to be honest James wasn't sure where Remus had gone, one minute he'd been there and the next he had gone. So James had been left alone to do his homework but, as the quill-slamming so obviously represented, James was done with that and now he wanted something to do to wind down his over-worked brain.

While he tried to think of a suitable activity, James began unconsciously tapping the table edge in the tune of a new song he'd heard playing on the WWN the previous week. The more he thought, the harder his tapping became and very soon he was getting shouted at.

"Will you stop it?"

"Merlin, Potter. Can you be more annoying?"

"James, if you don't stop that incessant tapping I'm going to..."

Well you get the picture, and so did he. He stopped his tapping, but he still had nothing to do. He began thinking again, this time humming the tune.

"POTTER!" Somebody shouted and then, before James even knew what was happening, he was literally being thrown from the common room.

"Well, I -" Came the shocked voice of the fat lady in the portrait. "You people today, you have no respect for each other."

James stood up, wiped himself down and re-entered the common room. Several heads turned to glare at him, several of the older boys stood up, ready to throw him out again.

"Don't bother," James said. "I'm just getting my broom."

He ran up, grabbed the broom and was outside before anyone had a chance to stop him. Stood on the grass below the Quidditch stadium, James readied himself on the broom. When he felt prepared, that is, when he had done several faux-starts, James jumped on the broom and took to the skies. He felt the wind rushing through his hair, messing it beyond sorting, and felt the icy air chop at his face. But, as much as he loved the feel of it, he felt bored. There was no one to enjoy this with. It took him a while to realise that he wanted the other three Marauders with him, but still he did not want to waste time looking for them and so came the decision.

So what if the guys weren't there? He could have fun without them. He took out a ball from his picket, similar to the size of a tennis ball in the muggle world, and threw it across the pitch. He flew after it and, after catching it, threw it back. He spent an hour doing this, throwing the ball back and forth the pitch, each time speeding after it, trying different methods of flying, as though he were several people in a real game chasing after the Quaffle. An hour was all he could manage before he got too tired. Giving in to his weariness he trudged back to Gryffindor tower, back into the common room where his reception was a lot warmer than previously and then he collapsed onto his bed. He hardly remembered that his homework was still downstairs, or noticed that his head was back to its semi-empty state or realised that three other boys had followed him into the room and were waiting for the moment he fell asleep so that they could practice a new prank they'd been working on.

--------

"Do you have it ready?" A voice hissed in Narcissa's ear.

"Not yet," she said quietly. "But it won't be long," she added hurriedly.

"Good," the voice spoke again in more of a drawl this time. "You have until midnight, my dear."

Narcissa nodded then turned to face the man, or more accurately the boy, for he was, after all, her age. His tight lips were curled into a malicious smile, his platinum blonde hair reflecting the dim light of the dungeons.

"What if it's not ready?" she asked, immediately regretting it.

His smile faded instantly and in one quick movement he had moved from his seat on a table and was immediately in front of her. He grabbed her wrists and brought them to him.

"If it's not," he warned in a low growl. "You're going to wish it had been, understand?"

Narcissa nodded weakly. "I...I und...understand, Lucius." She gasped out. "I was just making sure." She assured him in a semi-confident voice.

The smile crept back onto his face. "Good," he drawled smarmily. His grip on her wrists tightened as he pushed his lips onto hers, then he released her. "Now, go back to your friend, she'll be wondering where you are."

Narcissa nodded once more. "Yes, Lucius," she said hoarsely before leaving the room.

As she left she heard him say. "Midnight, my dear." She saved her tears until she was away from the dungeons and away from Lucius Malfoy.

After watching her go, Lucius turned to face the other boy in the room; Severus Snape.

"You are sure she will have it ready?" His friend asked him.

"Oh yes," Lucius said, his smile becoming even more dangerous. "She knows what will happen if she doesn't."

Severus smiled at hearing this and the two boys continued the conversation as they walked to the Great Hall to eat with the other Slytherin's.

* * *

There's a fair bit going on here, no? I feel like I'm really starting to develop the story properly now. Secret meetings between Slytherin's and Gryffindor's, and think, a woman who will later marry a man who scares her now. And what about Lily? Will she really go to Beauxbatons? Or will something change her mind? And poor Peter, it must be hard for him, liking a girl who goes out with his enemy. Will Tacea be back to get revenge on Sirius for dumping her like that? And just what are the boys planning to do to sleeping James? All shall be revealed in the New Year. 

He he he, get me, acting like the little voice-over man at the end of a really bad soap opera! But really, I had to write it all in, give you something to think about over the holidays. My Christmas present to you all! :D I'm sorry it took so long to get it out; I'll be faster next time. And I'm going to write a proper chapter, not just little random bits of happenings like the last couple…Hmm, I think we'll have a little Quidditch, and maybe a bit of interaction with a bald man, I'm not sure yet. We'll see.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! Thanks for R&R'ing, feel free to continue ;-)

Rae

PS: Sorry if there's any major grammar/spelling mistakes, I did my best but this was wrote in an e-mail, and Word does its best, but it always misses some errors when you put text into it. And when I've just copied an entire chapter into it and it brings up a lot of mistakes, it's easier for me to just click "ignore all". So yeah, sorry!


	29. The One Eyed Witch

"Where is he?" the murmurs spread throughout the classroom.

Fifteen minutes into History of Magic and their professor still hadn't arrived. Normally, the students wouldn't be concerned, Professor Binns was always late. Their ghost teacher seemed to have no comprehension of time, but never was he this late. Never was he a quarter of the lesson late, and even if today he just happened to be, he wasn't the only professor to turn up late that Monday morning. Their first lesson had been Transfiguration and Professor McGonagall, always at least 5 minutes early, arrived on the wrong side of the lesson bell. She offered no explanation for her tardiness, and no one questioned it too much but now the students couldn't help but wonder if something was going on.

Of course, there were several rumours going around the classroom. They were the kind of rumour that was so unbelievably far-fetched that they could be true. Marie had said that Peeves, the poltergeist the Marauders had set loose on the castle the previous year, had turned back every single time-keeping device the professors owned so they were all running one hour behind. While this was just the kind of thing Peeves would do, professors rooms had a shield specially designed to stop Peeves doing such a thing. So unless they all forgot to 'activate' it, this wasn't likely.

Another rumour, which Lily had strong suspicions the Marauders started themselves, was that they, the Marauders, had in fact slipped a bit of potion to each of the professors. The potion would take effect in different ways. Some would act out their deepest fears, others would feel it safer to not leave their bathroom and others would just keep acting out strange habits all day, like hopping instead of walking, or randomly touching their own eyeballs. When she heard this Lily couldn't hold in her disapproval at such ridiculous gossiping ideas any longer.

"Oh please. Don't tell me you people believe this nonsense. Binns is a _ghost_, he can't swallow potion for Merlin's sake. And as for trolls capturing the castle, let's all ignore the fact that we'd have been sent to a safe room while they were stopped. Just ignore that for a minute and consider this; We. Would. Have. Heard. Them!" She exclaimed, slowly pronouncing each of the last five words, hoping to drive the point home.

She received glares for her efforts and the gossiping continued. It was now half way through the lesson.

None of the theories as to what was keeping their teachers were true, not that the students knew this. They didn't know their professors were engaged in very secretive talks with Dumbledore and the Minister of Magic, a tall, burly man by the name of Ludron. They didn't know that the purpose of these meetings was to warn the professors of an evil rising that threatened to ruin the semi-peaceful co-existence of the wizarding and muggle worlds together. Nor did they know that the people involved in these meetings were the only ones to be informed of what was coming, and as such were sworn to secrecy. For this reason, it came as a surprise to the students when Professor Binns did eventually float into the room with fifteen minutes to spare, he too refused to share where he had been.

That was a strange day in Hogwarts, break came after that lesson and Dumbledore announced that the remainder of lessons for that day would be cancelled. It was advised that pupils did their own learning individually, the library would be open, as would some classrooms if pupils wished to practice spells.

Obviously, like in any school that allowed their students the day off to do work, no work was done. Alice and Marie spent the day in their dormitory pampering themselves. Narcissa took Alex, who had planned on spending some time with Jacob, to the dungeons where she was meeting some Slytherin's. Lily went for a swim outside. It was empty out there because of the cold, but that didn't bother her, she liked the cold water, it refreshed her, made her feel alive. And anyway, the swimming would warm her up.

But this is not what we are concerned with, not just yet anyway. This part of our story involves the Marauders who, being the Marauders had only one way to spend their day.

"I'm sure I saw someone there but when I looked again there was no one. It's certainly worth looking at, don't you think?" Remus finished telling James about a suspicious situation he had seen that needed further investigation.

James was already on his feet before Remus had even finished. "Right, let's go…Wait, where's Sirius?" he asked as he looked around the room, no one could mistake the annoyance in his voice.

Remus shrugged, but Peter squeaked up. "He's with Tacea."

Remus frowned. "I thought she talked too much for his liking?"

"Yeah," James agreed, equally confused.

Peter nodded. "She does, but he reckons he can keep her quiet." As he spoke he put on the same sly suggestive look Sirius' face had held.

It was slightly disturbing to see it on Peter's face, but the other two boys couldn't help but laugh, Remus rolling his eyes too.

"Well, let's go find him." James said, heading out of the room, the others following behind him.

Ten minutes later they found Sirius engaged in a kissing session with Tacea. It took a further three minutes to work out the best strategy to prise him away. In the end they went, not for the best strategy, but the one that seemed the cruelest to the couple.

Remus stretched out his hand and pulled Sirius back by his hair, which, though short, was at a length that allowed him to grip a few inches and so pull hard at Sirius' scalp.

"Ow!" Sirius cried and James readied himself for his part.

"Oh, Sirius, how could you?" he asked in a surprisingly convincing female-sounding voice. "You told me you wouldn't cheat on me again but here you are with another of your floozies."

Tacea had been stunned at their rude parting, but on hearing herself called a "floozy" she snapped back into the happenings.

"How dare you call me a – Oh, it's you." The realisation that she had been interrupted by James Remus and Peter came as she spoke, with Peter jumping into her sight.

"Yes, it's us," he said simply.

"What do you want?" she asked, obviously disgusted by the sight.

"Well, we need Sirius; why else would we be here? Not for your 'stunning' conversation." James answered coolly.

Sirius, now with a slightly less painful head (Remus had released his grip), smiled at this.

"Right, I'm coming. Tacea, I'll see you later baby."

Tacea sniffed indignantly but nodded all the same. The boys were already off to investigate.

"So where are we going?" Sirius asked a couple of corridors later.

"The fourth corridor on the second floor…" Remus started.

"Oh, I know. The one-eyed witch statue? I was considering that myself."

"Great minds…" James muttered. "So, you and tacky, anything serious?"

Sirius raised his brow at James' use of the pun the agreed never to use again, an agreement reached in primary school.

"Sirius Black doesn't do serious, you know that." He paused, finishing it with a sigh before continuing. "No, Tacea's great, really great, but she's just too…talkative."

Remus chuckled. "So we won't be seeing that sight again."

Sirius shook his head and a relieved look crossed over the other three boys faces.

"Oh, look, we're here." Peter squeaked.

James examined the statue carefully while the others conversed. His hands brushed over it, trying to find anything that shouldn't be there, or more correctly, should.

"If you're right then it works by password not touch." He said with an air of one who was expertly trained in what they were talking about, like a professor and his subject, or a broom maker on the wizards' favourite transportation device.

"A password?" Remus asked, aware of the endless possibilities.

Peter frowned. "You're sure it's a passage?"

James nodded. "As sure as I can be. There's a small gap at the back, not even wide enough for a finger, but there feels like there might be a hole back there."

Sirius stood up. "He's right," he certified, having examined the statue in a similar manner. "Could take us a while to get this one."

"But, they're going to use the same password twice are they? So we can pretty much rule out Partice, Bledroon…" Remus continued, trying to remember the other words.

James thought of some more. "Melgrone, dissendium, hereg…whoa."

A quiet rumbling sounded and then a harsh grating. "Three boys turned to see the statue had moved and James sprawled in front of a gaping hole in the wall."

"Jimmy-boy, you've done it," Sirius cried happily as he helped his best friend to his feet.

"Come on guys," Peter's voice called.

Looking into the darkness they could see a small figure encircled in tiny light slowly making its way further into the tunnel.

"Exchanging looks of pure pleasure, the remaining three boys chased after Peter with noisy anticipation to see where they would end up….

"Ow...Ow…Ow…Ow…Ow..."

"Sirius, shut up!" Remus exclaimed in frustration after Sirius said "Ow" for the four hundredth and sixty third time.

"But I keep banging my head," he whined.

"So crouch," the rest of them had learnt after the second time that the tunnel was too low for them. Sirius, apparently, hadn't.

"Hurts my back," he pointed out loudly.

"Shh," Peter hissed from the front stopping suddenly. "I think we're there."

James pushed forward to see.

"He's right. It's a trapdoor." He inched it open slightly so that his eyes could peer out.

"Cockroach clusters, fizzing whizzbees, sugar quills. You guys? I think we're below Honeydukes."

"Honeydukes?" Remus sounded dumbfounded. "But that's in –"

"Hogsmeade." Sirius finished, his eyes lighting up and an ecstatic grin spreading across his face. "Let's go." He continued trying to scramble his way forwards so he could get up.

A hand dragged him back. "I'll look around first," emus said, knowing full well he, being the most sensible of the four, was less likely to get caught.

The others nodded in consent, Sirius grudgingly.

Five minutes he was up there; five slow, impatient minutes for those left behind and five explorative but tense minutes for Remus as he looked around.

"What's taking so long?" Sirius complained after the sixth minute.

Remus' voice could be heard from above. "I think it's safe…wait."

He had heard a creak on the stairs leading from the basement to the above shop. His voice, already quiet, became less than a whisper on that last word; "wait."

The other three, eager to get up there and see for themselves, rushed on, not hearing Remus' warning. Looking back Remus thought he might not even have said it, and if he did, it was more than likely that he only heard it because he knew he was saying it.

"Look at this, just look!" Sirius grinned in childish joy.

"What are you –" Remus began but stopped as footsteps drew closer.

Four heads looked to see a door, its handle turned and a collective breath was drew as four minds worked overtime to try and avoid getting caught.

* * *

A/N: I know, it's short, but I wanted to leave it on that cliffy, and I do actually have the next bit written out. I just need to type it up, which I'm not going to do now 'cos I'm not in the right mood, I had to force myself to do this.

Happy New Year though, and I hope your all ok.

Rae


	30. Guilty Liar

"To success!" James declared raising his fizzing whizzbee.

A small token of triumph for their successful undetected escape of Honeydukes. James had left two galleons on the counter and on the way out each boy had grabbed a sweet of some kind. James' was a fizzing whizzbee, Sirius' a chocolate frog, Remus had a simple sugar quill and Peter a toffee broom.

"Success?" Remus asked in awe. "We were lucky to get out of there unnoticed."

"But we did, so stop being such a woman."

Though they were laughing and joking about it, the truth was that they all knew Remus was right.

They were unsure who came up with the idea first and, their minds being so in tune with each others, it is possible the idea came simultaneously to all of them. Whichever, the four boys hid behind piles of boxes at the same time. Just in time too, because at that moment a man entered the room and began stacking boxes onto a trolley. He was working his way around the room, taking a box of each product and slowly heading towards the Marauders when a shrill voice was heard.

"Arn, jus' bring what ya got, it'll have to do. I can' stay up 'ere alone."

The man flinched but obliged his wife, turning the trolley and heading back up the stairs, kicking them twice to turn them into a ramp for easy access of the trolley. When he was half-way up the ramp he turned back, shaking his head and continued back up. He had thought he heard a noise, but when he had turned back he saw no one, so decided he was hearing things in his old age. What he had heard was Sirius kicking boxes in his eagerness to stand up. Luckily, Remus had dragged him down before the man turned around and James had delivered a sound warning blow to his friends arm for his blatant stupidity.

They waited another five minutes before they moved again, and even when no one else came down they were cautious as they left.

"Whatever," Remus said, standing up. "We've done it now, shall we look around?"

And so the Marauders set off to look around Hogsmeade, a town they would come to know better than their own house.

--------

_Left, right, turn and breathe. Left, right, turn and breathe. Left, right, turn and breathe. _The words pounded in Lily's head with each stroke. _Left arm, right arm, turn head and take a breath. _She repeated this mantra, no longer noticing the icy briskness of the water that had shocked her at first. She loved to swim, that was no lie what she had written to Tae. The truth was she just didn't get out to do it very much anymore. A combination of the bitter cold Hogwarts winters and the mounting homework made her unable to get out very often. Sometimes she just needed to get out, go for a swim and escape. This was one of those times. And the time was over.

She grabbed at the grass and pulled herself onto the bank, slipping slightly but feeling a hand wrap around her wrist and dragging her up. Her eyes met two wide hazel ones and an embarrassed smile crossed her face.

"Jacob, hi," she said suddenly aware of the wet costume clinging to her skin. Embarrassment made her pick up the towel she had brought outside with her. "How have you been? We don't get to talk much anymore." ((A/N: Only one, I promise, I just need to say; Ok, so you're thinking one of two things. You're either thinking 'Who is Jacob?' or 'I thought it was James'. And if you're thinking the latter then "HE HE HE HE!!" And look below for the Jacob thing.))

"No, we don't" he agreed with a smile. Ever since Lily and Alex had their fight, Lily had little contact with her ex-best friend's boyfriend. "But I'm good, how about you?"

She smiled. "I'm good, just cold." Her teeth chattered together as she said this and he offered her his robes, which she gratefully took. "Thanks. Yeah, I'm good. It gets easier to hate a person when they take every available opportunity to make your life hell." She commented wryly.

To her surprise a escaped Jacob's mouth. "Don't I know it? Look, that's kind of what I'm out here to talk to you about." He paused then repeated, "Kind of."

Lily froze for a moment, not really surprised (what else would he want to talk to her about). No, it wasn't surprise that made her freeze, it was mild curiosity mixed with a hint of fear. What if Alex had sent him to trick her in some way? Could she take one more disappointment?

"Go on," she said. Her face was so calm and interested, but this cool demeanour was threatened by a cracking voice.

Jacob sat, waiting for her to join him before he spoke. Lily, however, busied herself in picking up her clothes as a distraction to what he had to say. Sighing, he spoke.

"Well, you see, I'm worried. Well, not worried, not really…and I don't know why I'm telling you, you don't care about her anymore, right? But…she's changed, don't you think? The girl I started going out with, she was cheery and funny, a little moody at times, but she was so caring that it didn't matter. But she's not like that anymore, you have to have noticed? She's like some kind of clone of 'Cissy…" He looked at her hopefully, pleading for her help.

Lily shivered, she really needed to dry off and get into warm clothes. That's what she put it down to anyway, that involuntary shiver. She refused to let the fact that she knew what he was saying was true, or that she was about to lie to a friend, even enter her mind.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I haven't noticed she seems the same to me. Maybe she's just trying to subtly tell you something? I'm sorry, I have to go," she concluded as another shiver ran through her.

Making sure she had her belongings she all but ran to the castle, ignoring the "Lily! Wait!" coming from behind her. As her feet pounded on the rough stone and then the cool polished floors of Hogwarts, Lily was left with one thought; _why lie_?

--------

The particulars were worked out, had been for a few days now, they were just waiting for the opportune moment. This was it. James was asleep, Peter was keeping watch to warn them if Frank came (they couldn't have him ruin all their hard work) and Sirius and Remus were ready with a razor and shaving cream. They had done a test a few nights previously, on a small patch of hair on James leg. How he hadn't noticed since then they weren't sure, they were just thankful he hadn't or tonight's surprise would be ruined.

Sirius shook the can, as its instructions told him to, but when it came to squeezing the foam out he was a little trouble.

"Remus, it's not working," he hissed. His hand was wrapped around the can, knuckles white from trying to squeeze it that way.

Remus had to stifle laughter when he saw Sirius' face creased in concentration, he now had two hands around the can, trying with all his might to squeeze it and retrieve the glorious foam.

"Sirius, you flobberworm-for-a-brain. Try pushing the nozzle on the top." Just to make sure Sirius was certain of what he were doing Remus did a quick demonstration.

Sirius' face changed to one of understanding then fell again.

"I don't have a pushy-thingy."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Take the lid off," he instructed slowly.

"Oh," Sirius breathed as he pulled of the lid and then pushed the nozzle. Giving a small cheer, he remarked that muggles were "quite strange creatures. Fancy creating such a complicated item just to get some foam."

"Shh!" Remus warned as James stirred in his sleep.

Putting lots of the shaving cream onto James' head, the boys set to work. It was a long job, they had to get him to roll over half-way through so they could get to the back of his head and on more than one occasion James nearly woke to find a razor in his face. But, fortunately for the boys, unfortunately for James, he slept through it and the three boys, quite tired after their hard work, went to sleep themselves.

They work to an ear-piercing scream.

--------

The very next morning Alex woke early but found it impossible to get back to sleep. She stumbled blindly to the bathroom in the dark of the room. Showered and dressed, she went downstairs and found a figure sat on a chair. A malicious smile crossed her face. She stepped closer, preparing to get her wand out.

"Before you do whatever it is you're about to do can I talk to you first?" A voice came from the figure.

Alex, a little surprised that she was noticed when the figure had their back to her, nodded without realising. "Sure, Lillers. Two minutes."

Alex could hear Lily take in a sharp calming breath before words filled the room.

"I was talking to Jacob yesterday and I feel I should warn you now, so you can change and stop it," Lily said.

Her words made no sense to Alex.

"And, well, he doesn't like the way you're acting. In fact, he said that unless you change, and fast, he won't be going out with you for much longer."

Alex snorted. "Yeah, right. And why would he tell you that? We're not even friends anymore; you have no influence over me."

Lily shrugged. "Who knows, maybe he thought I would be able to help you remember how you used to be. Or maybe he was trying to gauge my reaction, to see how I would take the news of the possibility he would be single."

Alex's eyes narrowed. "And why would he do that?"

To her annoyance Lily shrugged and smiled a smirk of someone who more than they're sharing. "How should I know? He's _your_ boyfriend. But he did help me out and he gave me his robes." With that she got up and left the common room and left the irate Alex to figure out her secret meaning.

'He wouldn't dump me. He wouldn't. I wouldn't let him, and why would he want to anyway? I've been the perfect girlfriend to him, always done what he wanted me to. No, he wouldn't dump me, unless…Oh. That's not possible is it? She can't really have been telling me he wants to dump me for her. Eww! She's lying; she's got to be…"

Still, as much as her thoughts told her it wasn't possible, she couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling. She charged upstairs, looking for the robes Lily had mentioned.

Lily walked down to the Great Hall, a small smile on her face. She knew she had got Alex paranoid and Jacob's robe lying on her bed, ready for Alex to find wouldn't help. But whatever triumph she should have felt was countered by one word screaming in her head; "_LIAR_!"

* * *

A/N: Wicked Lily. Wicked. But it's important in this chapter. You need to see the lies so we remember she's not perfect, and you need to see the guilt she feels at lying to someone she's not even friends with because later, much later, she's going to lie to someone who's a lot closer to her. Imagine how that's going to tear her apart. 

And about Jacob, he's never been a proper character before I don't think. He's been mentioned though, if you don't remember, Chapter 7, Chapter 10 and Chapter 13.

How is everyone? I'm thinking about doing something, I don't know what. Maybe have like a little quiz or something. Ask you all questions and the first person to get it right gets the next chapter dedicated to them. What do you think?

Oh, and thanks for getting me to 50 Reviews :D

Rae


	31. The Hero And His Good Luck Charm

"I'm going to kill you three," James' angry voice followed the ear-piercing scream. "Look what you've done."

The boys, still trying to wake up, took a while to respond to James' ranting. By the time they did, James was out of the bathroom and stood in the middle of the dormitory glaring at Sirius, Remus and Peter. Frank, also woken by the noise, sat up.

"What's all this noise about?" he asked sleepily. His eyes slowly focused and he saw James wearing just pyjama bottoms stood angrily staring at the three. He began laughing. "What happened to you?"

James gaze turned to Frank. "It's not funny," he declared, a hint of a whine in his voice.

What James was referring to, what Frank was finding so funny, was this: James' hair was no longer there, or at least not as it had been. Sirius and Remus had rather clumsily shaved off James' messy mop. Every so often there were clumps of what had just last night been soft raven-coloured hair.

"I'm going to kill you three." He promised again.

Sirius joined in with Frank's and, by now, Peter's laughter.

"Relax mate, we figured you'd be a little upset and wouldn't want to walk around looking like that, so we bought you this…" He motioned for Remus to get whatever they had bought.

Remus came out with a loud vulgar wig. Similar in style to a clown's, its colours were in vivid rainbow tones. Did they honestly expect him to wear that?

James lunged at Remus, crying "My hair, you sons of toads!" as he did. He fought as Sirius dragged him off. James hit him too, but Sirius was too fast and grabbed James' arms before he could do much damage.

"Shower. Go." He ordered, then a quieter tone that James could still hear. "It'll grow back."

James stopped, ready to turn and go after Sirius again but was pushed into the bathroom by Frank who quickly slammed the door shut after him.

"You three are going to wish you didn't do that, you know." He pointed out.

--------

"Everyone's staring," James hissed.

After coming out of the shower he had shaved off the remaining tufts and with it his mood had improved slightly. He would rather have no hair at all than have little bits that reminded him of what he had lost. He was still angry with the guys but he was also quite impressed that they would do such a thing on one of their own. He would, of course, get his revenge. But not yet.

They were in the Great Hall now, sitting at Gryffindor table to eat their breakfast.

"I'm amazed you're not pleased with the attention," Lily's familiar voice commented. "Your over-inflated ego should love it."

James gave her a look of total contempt before turning his back on her.

Remus, who was sat close to Lily, leant over and whispered. "I think he's enjoying it really. He's just annoyed you've picked up on the fact that it's the wrong kind of attention."

Lily laughed quietly making James turn and glare once more, Lily laughed harder. Ignoring it James engaged the boys in conversation, blocking Lily out. Five minutes of ignoring not only Lily but the looks off everyone in the room, too, James had started to forget his hairless situation. He was quickly reminded of it though.

Cold spread over his head, wet stickiness dripped down the side of his face and then came the soft tickling to replace the cold. Laughter and soft whispers filled the room, James spun around immediately

"Evans, what _are_ you doing?" he asked, not at all surprised to find her there considering.

"Sorry," she said, actually sounding apologetic. "It's just, well, I saw that your head wasn't as shiny as a bald person's usually is and thought maybe you would like it to be. The maple syrup was the only suitable thing nearby." She flashed him a grin and left the Great Hall, hearing Sirius' deep laughter and Remus' slightly quieter chuckles the loudest as she did.

"I hate that girl," James grumbled, stabbing his bacon viciously.

"And yet," Peter commented in an enlightened tone, very rare for Peter. "Your life would be oddly incomplete and unfulfilled without her around to show you up."

If looks could kill, Peter would have been dead fifty million times over in that second.

--------

The days passed, January ended and before they knew it, so did February. The shock and stares at James' hairless disposition had quickly ended when a new topic of interest arose; a Ravenclaw who, for all her intellect, had failed to see the problem with a weight-loss charm. She had done it so strong that she became wafer-thin and had almost blown away on her way to the Herbology greenhouses, it was lucky her friends were there.

James had been disgusted attention had been taken away from him ("Which is of more interest to you," he had asked Sirius one night. "Me or a girl with a self-confidence issue?" Sirius had yawned exaggeratedly. "The girl, now get over it. You're yesterday's news," he'd advised.). His actions to become the centre of attention once more only strengthened Lily's argument that he was pleased with the attention he had received in his bald state. His hair was now just past stubble at half a centimetre long.

The only worthy thing of note in that sleepy month was a Quidditch match, which wasn't even that interesting when you thought about it. It was over almost before it even began with Slytherin catching the snitch almost immediately after the starting whistle, certainly before Hufflepuff had a chance to even score a goal. But now, in the month of March, things seemed to be looking _quite_ interesting.

"Good luck today," Lily said, giving Jacob a tight squeeze.

His rolling chortle sounded. "Aren't you supposed to wish your own team that?"

Lily looked back at the Gryffindor team, or more precisely the swarm of people around them, and shrugged. "I think they're getting enough, don't you?"  
Jacob smiled at her and nodded.

There was a moments silence when the two of them looked back at the gang once more. In the middle, giving each male member of the team a peck on the cheek was Alex.

"It's a shame my own girlfriend can't do the same," Jacob commented huffily.

Lily smiled at him sympathetically. "Sorry about that. I thought she was getting better, maybe she's going to come by in a minute?"

"Not likely," he said as Professor Dumbledore called for all non-players to take their seats and the players to take their positions in the stadium.

Lily headed off but Jacob's hand caught her own. "Before you go – what did you say to her?"

Lily's eyes twinkled mischievously. "Oh, I used a bit of the Lily-Charm." She said, not wanting to tell him she had all but certified a possible relationship between them, not wanting to tell him she had used him in such a lie.

"Everyone, Miss Evans, includes your lovely self. Please be seated," Dumbledore's voice echoed through the stadium causing Lily to blush furiously.

"I think you better go," Jacob laughed before heading to his position on the stadium.

Lily took the first available seat, a seat in the Ravenclaw section.

----

The captains shook hands, the balls were released, the whistle was blew and immediately 15 players flew up into the air, though only one remained stationary. The remaining 14 seemed to blur past the crowd.

"…And Suldron passes to Somers, who passes it back to Suldron. An expert throw there as he throws to Wenham but not good enough, Ravenclaw now in possession of the quaffle. Abers to Andrews to – no, wait he's taking it all the way to the goal and a quick pass to Patil who scores! Ravenclaw lead 70 to 30. – Come on Gryffindor, what's wrong with you today?"

Lily found herself cheering for her Ravenclaw friends with the rest of the stand. She had only been to the inter-house Quidditch final the previous year and the atmosphere there had been so different to this one, tenser. She realised that she was enjoying this game more than before.

----

"- Gryffindor fighting back now as they take a 10 point lead. The score now stands at 100 to 110."

James cheered, they were back in the running now. He shot a sneer over to the Ravenclaw stands where that traitor Evans was sat. How dare she not support her own house? He felt a sense of anger rising inside of him at her blatant treachery.

Ravenclaw scored again and he groaned inwardly. They were now drawing. If he was playing they'd have won by now, but no! Suldron had to take him off the team and now there was a chance they'd, Merlin forbid, lose. He'd have to make sure they didn't, but how?

"- Wenham shoots it past Porkiss and he scores! Gryffindor are in the lead once more!"

James raised his arms to clap and cheer when he was momentarily blinded by light reflecting off glass. He grinned; he knew just what to do.

----

Jacob kept his eyes trained around the pitch in search of anything that glittered. He heard it whiz past him and his eyes followed its path.

"And is that…? There's something right by Ravenclaw seeker, Andrews junior's head. Called Andrews junior, so as not to get him confused with his older brother, Ravenclaw's captain and chaser. Should be an easy snitch to catch…Where's he going?"

All the other players had stopped as they heard that and the audience became eerily still.

Jacob was on a dive towards the ground, his arm getting ready to reach out and grab, while the Gryffindor seeker, O'Connor, was headed towards the glinting thing that had previously been behind Jacob. Then, all in one moment, everything changed. The glinting stopped; Jacob's hand clasped around cold metal and a deafening rumble erupted from the stadiums. Jacob touched down on the ground, hand around the snitch and arm up in triumph.

----

"I don't believe it! Ravenclaw win 260 to 120. Jacob Andrews catches the snitch!"

James stared blankly at the pitch. That wasn't how it was supposed to go. Andrews was supposed to see the light and go after it when James moved it, not go after the real snitch.

'Stupid Suldron for taking me off the team. Stupid O'Connor for falling for such a pathetic trick. And stupid Andrews for not.'

Too lost in thoughts of this ilk, James didn't notice the incident going on below him.

----

Lily stood up and cheered like the rest of them then headed the swarm of people running to congratulate Jacob and the other Ravenclaw's.

Lily threw her arms around Jacob who responded by wrapping his arms around her waist and spinning her round excitedly, chanting "We won, we won, we won," over and over.

"You won," she affirmed, giggling as his jubilant mood rubbed off on her.

"You," he said, drunk with happiness. "Are my good luck charm."

They stopped spinning but they remained like that stationary for less than a moment before cries of protest and annoyance sounded. The two broke apart and turned in time to see Alex pushing her was through the crowd.

"Get your paws off my boyfriend," she growled, glaring at Lily.

"The only one with paws around here is you Alex," Lily retorted, turning her back on Alex to talk to Jacob.

Alex dragged her by the hair though and forced Lily to face her. "How dare you?" she spat, delivering a sharp slap to Lily's face.

Lily was stunned and Alex looked like she was going to take advantage of that when Jacob stopped her.

"I think you'll find," he said calmly. "That she was giving as good as she got and to be frank Als, I don't blame her. You're not a very nice person and I don't think we should see each other anymore."

He too turned his back on Alex, seeing if Lily was okay.

"You…You…This is all her fault. She's poisoned you against me. Ooh, she's going to pay."

Jacob stood between Alex and Lily. "You did a good enough job of that yourself and if you lay one finger on her you'll have me to answer to," he promised dangerously. "Come on Lils, I'll get you inside."

With his protective arm around her shoulder, Lily allowed herself to be led away by Jacob. She slowly found her voice.

"And _you_ are my hero," she said quietly, smiling up at him.

* * *

A/N: My exams are over 'til the summer YAY! 

What do you think there? Can you see a relationship there? I know **Rachael** already said one would be cool, but what about the rest of you?

**Sam**, I really hope there are no missing words in this chapter, but my head's to fried to go back and check, so if there is, I apologise right now.

**Jen**, I have loads planned for later years, pretty much all after 3rd year but it'll take me a while to get there because I'm struggling to get second year written. As you can see, I've just skipped an entire month and a half. sigh I don't know why this year is so difficult.

**Always-Blond** (who from now on will be called '**Blondie**', provided you have no objections?) I'm really glad you like it, it's always nice to hear I've got new readers :D

I know I haven't done individual responses for a while, have I? But I wanted to fill up that 4th page, and now I'm onto the 5th rolls eyes

He he, I think I'll go now because I have nothing more to say…nothing that you want to hear anyway.

Rae


	32. Asking for Help

I want to dedicate this chapter to my friend Emma. She's going through a really bad time right now so I just want to let her know I'm here for her.

* * *

To say that life was a nightmare for the next few days was a bit of an understatement. Lily had never before been the focus of everyone's attention before, and now that it was happening she didn't like it. The looks, the whispers behind her back, the rumours that Jacob finished with Alex for her and they were now an item were all ridiculous. How people could stand or _want_ to have this everyday she did not know, but one thing she did know was that it needed to stop…somehow. 

Jacob's friends rallied against him, not understanding _how_ he could give someone as pretty and popular as Alex up. Especially for someone like Lilly; the bookish wallflower with an attitude problem. To them it was madness and so Jacob had to endure days of his friends disbelieving grunts and their statements of his stupidity.

Alex's days were a little better. The very next day after the break-up she had received a large number of invitations for dates but she turned down every one of them. It was good to know that people didn't feel sorry for her or hate her but she decided she decided she wasn't ready for another relationship. She had pretty much jumped straight into the one with Jacob after splitting up with Sirius and she didn't want to do that again, it just caused pain. And anyway, she needed to work on a plan to become Sirius' first serious girlfriend…again.

-

"Potter, hey Potter!" Lily hissed quietly one Potions lesson.

No response came from the big-headed buffoon.

"Potter!" she tried again, her voice a little louder this time.

He still didn't hear her but someone else did, and unfortunately it was Professor Jenkruss.

"This is supposed to be a silent lesson so that I can assess your individual potion-making skills. Conversing with your fellow students is not the way to do this. 30 points from Gryffindor, you have Miss Evans to thank for that."

A collective groan sounded. After the humiliating Quidditch defeat and the subsequent increase in points for Ravenclaw, Gryffindor were at the bottom in the running for the House Cup. All points mattered and they couldn't afford to lose any.

Lily gave a huffy sigh, not really caring about a few lost points; she had more important things to worry about. After scribbling a few words on a piece of parchment, Lily scrunched it up and crouched on the floor under the pre-text of picking something up. She carefully threw the parchment at James' leg, hoping it got there and that he would notice it.

Sirius' leg was itchy. Really itchy. And it wasn't the kind of itch that would simply go away when you rubbed the sole of your shoe on it. It wouldn't go; it was as though he had fleas or something. There was only one solution, his nails. Sirius' nails were long but not in a feminine kind of way, he just didn't like to cut them. It wasn't as though he filed and polished them, not often anyway.

He bent down, giving his leg a good, hard scratch. The relief he felt was immense but quickly forgotten when he found a ball of parchment by his leg. Curiosity got the better of him as he picked it up to read.

_I need to talk to you. Meet me by the __Willow__ at lunch.  
__Lily_

A foot stood on his and when Sirius looked at its owners face he saw a look of interest on it. Sirius' own face told James all he needed to know for the moment; 'I'll tell you later'. Sirius watched as James shrugged and added another ingredient to his potion. Adding his own teaspoon of fly eggs, Sirius turned to flash Lily a charming grin. Nothing came in return.

-

'Did he just smile at me? Eww." Was Lily's first reaction before it even occurred to her to ask "why?"

She threw the fly eggs into her potion and watched as it turned a sickly yellow colour instead of dark lavender. Her eyes scanned the list once more and she realised, with a comical look of horror, she had added the wrong ingredient. Or more precisely, she had added the right ingredient twice. She now had double the amount of fly eggs and still no frogspawn.

Jenkruss informed the class they had two minutes left. 'Two minutes to sort this mess out," she thought as she hurriedly threw another load of every ingredient, finishing with two lots of frogspawn. Just in time too, as she added the last bit Jenkruss called for the potions to be bottled.

Lily's was now a deep blue but it was the best she could do now. She bottled the potion and took it to the front of the classroom, ignoring Jenkruss' raised brow and malicious sneer. As she headed back to get her bag and leave she passed the Marauders. She was ignored by two, smiled at by Remus and given a wink by Sirius. She frowned at the latter and would have been worried by his behaviour if it weren't for the fact that he was Sirius and often weird. She forgot all about it as she headed for Herbology.

-

The meeting, and the moments leading up to it, went as followed.

The bell rang, signalling the end of Charms. Sirius was one of the first people out of the room and was stood outside waiting for the others when Lily passed him.

"See you soon," he called after her.

She seemed to turn slightly but shook her head and turned back before she actually looked at him.

A hand waved in front of his face, trying to get his attention. The hand was connected to James' arm, Sirius grabbed at it.

"What?"

"Are you coming to the Great Hall for lunch?" James asked him.

"No," was Sirius' distracted reply.

"Sirius Black is turning down food?" asked Peter's incredulous voice.

"I have – er – I have things to do," Sirius replied coolly, his eyes following Lily's retreating figure down the corridor.

"Who's the lucky lady this time?" James asked, knowing his friend too well.

Remus stayed quiet throughout the whole exchange, watching Sirius as he examined Lily. With narrowed eyes he spoke, "If he's not coming, he's not coming. Let's just go."

"Good luck mate," James called back to Sirius as Remus dragged him and Peter away.

After they had gone, Sirius made a quick visit to the bathroom. Ensuring his hair was smoothed and combed he left, headed outside to meet Lily by the Whomping Willow.

"Evans," he said suavely when he was within hearing distance.

She spun around. "You're la – What are you doing here?"

She looked at him with a perfect mix of scepticism and annoyance.

"You asked me to come," he reminded her.

"No I didn't."

"Sure you did. You sent me a note in Potions."

"No I didn't."

"You did, I have it here." He pulled the crumpled parchment from deep in his pocket.

"That was for Potter, not you."

"Pot…Why are you writing notes to James?" he spoke in a suggestive voice, as though he already knew the answer.

Lily groaned and rolled her eyes. "Not for reasons you're thinking Niffler-brain. I need his help but I can see I'm not going to get it now so let's forget about it."

She began to walk away but Sirius called her back.

"Evans, wait. Maybe I can help?" he offered.

Lily stared at him blankly for a minute then laughter trickled from her mouth.

"You? You're kidding right? I didn't even want to ask Potter, it's just an emergency. I mean no offence Black but while I may be in dire need of help, I'm not desperate."

"That's not how it seems to me. Come on, give me a try. What do you need help with?"

So, against her better judgement, Lily told him, and while she agreed his plan was a good one and she would go along with it, she had a horrible feeling at least one of them would live to regret it.

-

"He was very impressed with your work," Narcissa was informed, making her smile slightly. "But they weren't quite what he was looking for. He wants something a little more…Well, with more of an edge. He said he liked the snake idea but it's not developed properly. You have a week to get it right, understand?"

Narcissa nodded. "Yes. Snake idea, but a bit more spine-tingingly chilling, right?"

Lucius smiled cruelly. "Right. Don't mess it up, everything depends on this."

"Yes, Lucius," she mumbled.

-

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention?" Sirius' voice boomed throughout the Great Hall.

Teachers and students alike turned to look at the over-confident twelve-year old standing on his chair, motioning for the red-head beside him to do the same.

"Get up her," he hissed urgently, keeping a bright smile on his face for the crowd.

The red-head sat bemused in her chair.

'What is he doing? This wasn't part of the plan," her wild thoughts told her.

"Lily," he hissed once more.

Overcoming her perplexed stubbornness, Lily stood on a chair beside the boy.

"I am aware that after the crushing defeat Gryffindor faced in the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw game earlier this month, it appeared that one of our own was involved in an 'affair'. An affair that led to the separation of second year Ravenclaw Jacob Andres and another Gryffindor, second year Alexandra Fentworth. Well it is my great honour to put the record straight. Miss Lily Evans, the so-called scarlet-woman of Hogwarts, is, in fact, _not_ the cause of this separation nor was she, or even is she, involved in a relationship with Jacob. I know this because she has assured me, Sirius Black, over and over, and as her boyfriend I feel compelled to believe her."

Whispers resounded throughout the room at this shocking declaration and at that moment at least four people saw red with anger at Sirius' announcement. This included Lily herself, 'I'll kill him,' was the thought of her and one other, while others, but mainly two, were thinking 'I'll kill her.'

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the long time to update, I haven't been able to get on the comp; my bro is obsessed with talking to his girlfriend every night. I got home before him today so I managed to get on before him otherwise you'd have longer to wait. And the reason for it being so short is that I have a long chapter that I'm splitting in two, I'll update again next week. 

Oh, and I had no intention of Lily and Jacob getting together, yet anyway, I just wanted to see what you all thought about it. And a warning for the next chapter; Lily is going to come across as a bit of a "Gentlemen's woman", it's intentional, I just couldn't think of a way to wind up a certain character more than for Lily to do what she will do, you'll see.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and thanks to my reviewers of the last chapter.

Rae


	33. Repercussions

A/N: Sticking it here so I can say before you read further that:

**Marianne: **They will kind of, but I get the feeling from the characters that any friendship they strike up now will be very uneasy and full of backstabbing. They will come unbelievably close, but obviously _something _will happen that will completely ruin it. I'm quite nasty like that, plus I don't like Alex.

**Sam: **One was Alex, none were James and one was someone else. He he, great with the clues today.

**Rachael ****Katie: **Here you go.

And I'm crying now because this isn't as much as I hoped, but I don't want to put the next bit in because I want it to end her and because I want the next bit so that the title for the next chapter makes sense. So yeah, sorry it's short. I'll do some work in the next couple of days and try to have the next chapter up by the end of the week, if not, next week. Enjoy what's here.

Rae

* * *

Lily grabbed Sirius the first available chance she got. "That wasn't part of the plan," she growled at him.

Sirius slammed against the wall and, if he didn't already know from the fierce look in Lily's eyes, the force with which she pinned him might have given an indication as to how angry she was, but this was only a small fraction as to jus how seething she was. He held his hands up defensively, but there was a smile on his face.

"Yeah, but the plan was boring," he said dismissively.

The look of laughter in his eyes and the nonchalant way he composed himself implied he wasn't overly afraid of Lily, which only served to further anger her.

"It was your plan!" She exclaimed.

"I know. That's why I was able to change."

"But you didn't tell me!"

"Would you have agreed if I did?" he questioned already knowing the answer.

"No," she said immediately.

"Exactly, you want a plan that works, and this works the best, just relax babe."

"Babe?" she asked disgusted. "I am not your babe Sirius."

"Just work with me here," he instructed as he leant in and gave her a quick kiss.

After the shock had gone Lily was pushing him off.

"You…"

"Got to make it work for the crowd," he said quietly, looking in the direction if a group who had just walked past.

Lily, too, looked and when they were gone slapped Sirius across the face.

"You ever do that again," she threatened."

"Got quite the red-headed temper haven't you?" he asked in amusement/

She growled lowly. "Just get it sorted Black." She said before storming off.

"Sure thing. See you later, Red," he called after her.

-

Remus could no longer contain his feelings and decided to talk to Sirius one-on-one.

"So, you and Lily, I didn't see that one coming," He opened suddenly, breaking the silence between the two.

Sirius didn't seem at all surprised by the question. If anyone was going to question it, it would be Remus.

"Neither did we," Sirius responded. "We were just arguing one day, you know how we can be, and I guess we both realised that all the tension was restrained feelings."

"Uh-huh," Remus said unconvinced. "And you just failed to mention it to us?"

"Yeah," Sirius said uncomfortably. "Oh look, there's Peter. Let's go talk to him."

'Quick distraction,' Remus thought. 'There's one sign he's lying. Not to mention the ridiculous story _and_ he's willingly choosing to talk to Peter.'

"Sure, but I know you're lying." Remus said, voice void of emotion.

He smiled and led the way towards Peter calling, "Come on," over his shoulder to Sirius' stationary, shocked figure.

-

The month drew to a close and Lily and Sirius' "news" was soon replaced. If any thought it was odd that the two didn't spend much time together in public, they didn't say so. Some did express their dissatisfaction at such a pairing, mostly to Lily, but Lily ignored it and Sirius was having too much fun knowing he was annoying Lily to care. He did care that, no matter how much he tried to persuade him otherwise, Remus became more and more convinced that Sirius and Lily were lying with each passing day. What Remus couldn't understand though was why Lily was still going along with it two weeks later.

In those couple of weeks it would be fair to say that, despite the problems, things were going well for the group. And in truth, they were, it was after that things started to go bad.

"Edward finally asked me out!" Alice cried happily one evening.

Marie gasped in happiness for her best friend while Lily smiled at her.

"That's great," she commented.

"I know," Alice squealed as she dived backwards onto her bed. She gave a contented smile before continuing. "We're meeting by the lake at the weekend; he says he's got a surprise for me."

"Oh Alice, that's great," Marie supplied.

"You'll have to give us all the details," Lily told her.

"I will," Alice giggled.

All three shared a smile before Marie poked Lily in the side. "At least she'll tell us things," she said, referring to Sirius.

"Come on guys. I've told you over and over since, and I apologized for not telling you sooner. Sirius and I was just something I had to keep quiet. When are you going to forgive me for it?"

"Ah, you're forgiven," Alice said.

Marie nodded, "It's just something that we will…"

"…From time-to-time…" Alice put in.

"…Remind you of to make you feel guilty."

"I, on the other hand," a voice interrupted. "Won't be so lenient."

Lily groaned loudly, she knew that voice, Alex.

"First Jacob then Sirius. What is it with you? You can't get a guy of your own so you take mine."

Lily looked confused for a moment, "Jacob dumped you of his own free will. He saw what an evil little erumpent you are and wanted rid. But since you split up, before then even, we have never done anything reminiscent of two people going out. As for Sirius, you two broke up over a year ago and he wasn't seeing anyone else. Why shouldn't I be able to go out with him?"

"Because," Alex countered. "I wanted to get back with him."

"So other people can't have him?" Lily asked. "Get over yourself Alex; unless you're actually going out with him, he's free game."

"No, he's not. I wanted him!"

At this point Lily had had enough. Standing from her Indian-style position on Marie's bed, she headed out of the room. Before she left completely, she turned to face Alex and spoke.

"So I heard already, but guess what? I care even less than before. You're a childish brat and if you're too slow to go after what you want then you're the only one to blame if someone else gets there first. Now witness your slowness."

She disappeared down the stairs, while a seething Alex stood there for a moment before following the fiery red-head. Alice and Marie exchanged looks of nervous excitement before following suit.

Down in the Common Room, everyone watched as the following scene unfolded.

Lily, with a great smile on her face, bounded down the stairs and practically ran across to room to where the Marauders, more particularly Sirius, were sat.

With all the grace of flying wildebeest, Alex raced down after her only to see Lily jump into Sirius' lap and pull him into a very intimate and loving kiss.

A strangled cry preceded Alex's ranting and made Lily pull away.

"You dirty little tramp, what did I just tell you?" Alex started towards Lily.

Lily faked a yawn, "I don't know, I…"

As Lily spoke, Alex cut over her. "You're nothing but a common thief."

Lily continued speaking, only to lose her temper at Alex's words. "…I wasn't listening – I'm a common thief?" She suddenly switched direction of thought.

Lily finished the distance between them.

"Yes, you're a –"

There was less than a centimetres distance between Lily and Alex by now but neither lowered their voice. Lily, though, did begin laughing in Alex's face.

"Alexandra, dear, do you really want to talk about thieves? I seem to remember a certain incident on a train just three moths ago. I ended up paralysed while you and 'Cissy stole my Transa-Jewellery Box. You would have had my charm bracelet but it was broken and so worthless to you.

"So let's think about this a minute. Without my permission, you took something belonging to _me_ and _still_ haven't returned it. And then there's me, whose only crime is to go out with a _single_ guy who you just happen to like. Who's the thief Alex?"

Gasps of shock and cheers at seeing Alex get ripped to shreds sounded throughout the common room. Alex's mouth opened and closed soundlessly. Knowing she was defeated, Alex stormed through the portrait but not before casting one last dirty glance at Lily.

"You remember this is meant to be a trick, right?"

Lily sighed, "I couldn't help myself and she's been asking for it for months." She turned around, a smile on her face, and kissed Sirius once more, less passion in it than before. "Anyway," she continued when she pulled away. "It needs to be believable, right?"

Sirius grinned and nodded. "Two kisses, both in public. You either really want to make this seem real or you're falling for me. I knew it was only a matter of time before the kisses got to you."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Please, it's all for show, and besides, I've had better kisses. Excuse me; I need to go clean out my mouth."

She walked away and left, for the second time in five minutes, a person speechless.


	34. Rainbow Notes

Of all the letters Lily had received, these were by far the worst. Whether it was because of the number she had received or the sheer maliciousness that seemed to radiate from them she wasn't sure, but something about them made her nervous.

Each word written in a different colour, the rainbow notes had a simple clear message hidden in a deeper one; 'Stay away from Sirius, he's not meant for you.'

While Lily wasn't really seeing Sirius, the two of them seemed to have fooled the entire student population into believing otherwise and this had led to a number of 'hate mail' from Sirius' many admirers. And while it was easy for her to ignore the majority of these letters, the rainbow notes were hard to forget. Just one example went like this:

_Evans,_

_Reports come of an increase of muggle deaths. We know that muggles are quite a destructive race and normally I would not concern myself with such news, but there are rumours that they are not simply due to muggles. There is a man waging a war on muggles and half-bloods alike. No one is safe, especially not know-it-all mudbloods who fraternise with purebloods, and the Black's are one of the oldest pureblood families around. You endanger him and your family by staying with him. If you really like him you will dump him. You've been warned mudblood._

To Lily that was a good story, somebody obviously had a vivid imagination, so she didn't pay much attention to it but at the back of her mind was a nagging feeling telling her that maybe, just maybe, whoever wrote the note was telling the truth. She had expressed her concerns to Remus but he laughed it off, finding the whole idea ludicrous.

"You really think there's a raving madman out there killing muggles?"

"No…Yes…Oh, I don't know!" she'd let out an exasperated cry.

"Relax, if there was, we'd have been told."

Even though he had sounded calm and believable, he didn't help to soothe Lily's anxiety. She couldn't explain why, but something about the rainbow notes made her nervous. She'd just have to watch her back.

-

The full moon at the beginning of May had arrived when the decision was made, the decision to finally draw a line under it all. Remus wasn't around to witness it, but when he got back and found out what had happened he was so happy that he snuck down to the kitchens and had a celebration with the house elves. He didn't even question it, which was very un-Remus-like behaviour. Had he questioned it he would have discovered just how fragile and terrified his best friend, and secret crush was and how much she needed someone at this time. But he didn't question it and so, while he was celebrating the fact Lily no longer had a boyfriend, Lily herself was falling deeper into helplessness, counting the days until the year ended so she could get away from that place that seemed to cause her nothing but misery and back to her loving family for six weeks before heading to France for a year.

And it all began with a particularly vicious rainbow note on the Friday morning. All through the day Lily's mind was focussed on the note, and only the note. She was fortunate enough to be able to bluff her way through the lessons she was called upon in, and received just one detention for her distance during Charms. She wouldn't even have got that if it hadn't been for the fact that her unfocussed behaviour had led to the burning off of Professor Flitwick's beard. All-in-all she was distracted to the point that even Sirius noticed she was acting odd.

She was in the Great Hall on Sunday morning when he approached her.

"Hey Lilykins," he said giving her a peck on the cheek before sitting beside her.

She gave a small smile, but didn't look directly at him.

Sirius frowned before looking at Marie and Alice opposite him, questioning them through his expression as to whether or not they knew what was up with Lily. They both shrugged.

He stood up. "Lily, come for a walk with me?"

She said nothing but stood to join him.

The two headed outside in silence. After five minutes Sirius couldn't take the silence any longer. "So what's up?"

She remained quiet.

"Come on Red," Sirius sighed. "We're meant to be going through the act of being girlfriend and boyfriend here. Act like it and talk to me."

"But we're not, are we Sirius? Everyone thinks we are, but we're not. This whole idea was ridiculous; a Black scheme through and through."

He ignored that last remark, instead asking, "So what if we're not? I'd like to think we're at least friends and friends talk."

"We're not friends either, not since the day you cheated on Alex." Lily's voice was emotionless, but she felt a tug at her heart when she said Alex's name.

Sirius sighed. "Fine Red, I at least tried. I'll see you later, when you're over this ridiculousness."

He turned from her and started to walk away when he heard quiet mumblings. Turning back he saw Lily sat on the grass, her back to him. He crouched in front of her. She was staring blankly ahead, quiet words coming from her lips.

"Shouldn't have let it go on for so long…Shouldn't have agreed…Fooled them all but look where it got me…Why?"

She stopped then and looked at Sirius, her emerald eyes staring unfocused into his grey ones. Then, taking Sirius and even herself by surprise, she threw herself at him and wept into his robes.

He wrapped his arms around her in a comforting bear-hug; one hand around her waist as the other rubbed her back soothingly. After a while her tears stopped.

"Better?" he asked. She nodded in reply. "Good. So do you want to tell me about it now?"

She nodded again and the story of what was bothering her spilled from her lips. She told him about the rainbow notes, the man who was supposedly coming and then finally about the last note she had received. The one that said the man had all he needed now; support, a symbol of fear, terror spreading through the nation and, most importantly, a name; Lord Voldemort. Sirius had shifted slightly at the sound of the name, but he said nothing and made no other indication to knowing it so Lily, in her upset state, pushed it aside.

"The note said that the 'Lord' guy would kill me next if we don't break up. We're not even going out Sirius. This is all your fault!"

"My fault?" Sirius asked, still wide-eyed at Lily's story. "How is it my fault?"

"It was your idea," she stated simply, her fiery temper lacking as she spoke.

"You were quite happy to go along with it," Sirius quipped back.

"I didn't have much of a choice."

"Whatever," Sirius muttered, not feeling like he should argue with her when she was like this.

After a few moments silence he asked a question they were both wondering. "What do we done then?"

Lily shrugged. "Break up? I mean, I didn't want to agree to this in the first place, so it's no big loss to me, but then, I'm not sure if the letters are real or just someone's idea of a sick joke. And then, if they are real, don't you think we should warn someone? And the 'plan' has worked. People have stopped going on about me and Jacob, not that there was ever anything to talk about, but you know what people are like…"  
She trailed off, realising she was rambling.

"So we end it?" Sirius asked, his eyes following a fourth year as she made her way across the grounds.

Lily nodded but didn't smile. "Yes, right here, right now."

"You don't want to make it public?" he asked, a little surprised.

"No. Not everything in my life has to be public viewing for this school. So as of this moment we are broken up."  
Sirius nodded. "Broken up. The letters should stop now, right?" He was still watching the girl

"I hope," Lily said her voice slightly fearful and then, with a slightly wry smile, "Go give her a bit of Sirius."

Sirius tore his eyes away and looked at Lily, a mischievous smile on his face. "You'll be alright?" Lily nodded. "Good, because I haven't been near a girl since we started 'going out'. It'll be nice to be a free agent again."

With one last caring look at Lily to make sure she was ok, Sirius chased after the fourth year.

Lily watched him for a moment or two as he stopped the girl. Then watched as, after a bit of conversation, Sirius earned himself a slap across the face and was made to further chase after the girl when she stormed back into the castle. The scene didn't cheer Lily up much, but the conversation had eased some of the tension she felt. Some, but not all, a large portion still remained.

-

"Did he like it?" Narcissa asked Lucius cautiously. She half hoped he said 'No,' and that would be the end of it but another part of her wanted him to say 'Yes', that her work truly was appreciated.

"He did. He is using it as his symbol. Congratulations Narcissa, you've just earned respect from the Dark Lord."

Lucius' icy drawl sent shivers down her spine.

"What do you mean 'his symbol'?"

Lucius mouth twisted in a cruel smile. "Well, we'll be seeing a lot of it quite soon. But don't worry, that's what you wanted isn't it? People to notice you're art skills?"

She looked at him, trying to see through his cool exterior and find some signs of life within, but all she could see was cold, cruel hardness. She wasn't even sure there was a heart beating in there.

"He's going to leave it for people to see? Like a calling card?" she asked horrified at the thought.

He nodded. "Soon everyone will now your work, they might just not realise it's yours."

He turned from her and left the room then, chuckling as he went.

Narcissa stared after him, appalled at the misuse of her design, but then what had she expected when she suggested it in the first place? What did she think a snake protruding from the mouth of a skull could be used for if not as a symbol of terror? No, she wanted this; she just wasn't willing to admit it to herself.

-

A week since that day and things weren't too bad for Lily. After a couple of hours the questions died down, she spent more time with Alice and Marie and she and Sirius were on semi-pleasant terms. He had asked her if there had been anymore notes, there hadn't, and he seemed to be acting the brother she didn't have. It was weird, but comforting to know he was around if Remus wasn't. So here she was, a week after their 'break-up', getting dressed in her dormitory when her eyes fell upon a copy of _The Daily Prophet _on Alex's bed. With one leg in a pair of jeans, Lily hopped across the room and snatched the paper, only to read the headline in horror; 'Seven Killed in Attack on Muggles.'

Normally the Daily Prophet did not report on muggle attacks, this she new from the limited number of articles she had read, so with a morbid interest she read the story. Five muggles had been killed in Suffolk, as had the two wizards who had attended the scene once it became apparent that the attack was by wizards. When more arrived to retrieve their dead, they found a glowing green picture of a skull with a snake coming from its mouth hovering in the sky. The article ended with, 'The picture has since been named the Dark Mark. This is not the first of such attacks and it appears it will not be the last, until the people at fault are punished we must be on guard.'

She had time to silently put the paper back and fasten her jeans when an owl arrived. It carried a rainbow note, she could tell this before she even opened it. She read:

_Evans,_

_Good, I am certain you and Black are finished for good now. I am sure that by now you have had time to hear the stories and have verified that every word I have told you is true. For this reason I feel compelled to tell you that, as you no longer have romantic connections to Black, the Dark Lord is willing to save your untimely death until last, unless you decide to save us the trouble? You have cooperated with us so far; do not break the rules now._

A chill descended on Lily that warm morning and as she ripped the article from the paper and took the rainbow note down into the common room with her, heaviness took over her, as though no matter whom she confided in, and no matter how many times, some terrible burden had been placed on her and her alone. At the age of thirteen, Lily Evans had a horrible feeling the fate of the world depended on her and for that reason alone she decided she would fight, no longer could she be as weak as she had been until now.

* * *

A/N: A long wait for a short chapter, I know, but I'm about to write the next one and it won't be as long a wait, in fact I plan to have it up today, Tuesday otherwise (I finish early on Monday's, Tuesday's and Wednesday's, which is why I always say one of them, but unfortunately my mother has kidnapped my Monday afternoons, so Tuesday is, really, the earliest possible convenient time for me to write. So yeah...) 

What did you think of this chapter? Was it worth the wait? I hadn't planned on Voldemort being introduced so early, but I was really stuck for stuff to write. And I'm not sure I like the end, but the rest isn't too bad.

Ok, shutting up now.

Rae


	35. The Prank

I hope you've all read the previous chapter, _Rainbow Notes_, it's not necessary for this chapter, but it's a very important chapter so it'd be good if you have. I only make sure because I replaced the "chapter" that it was (a note from me), so I'm not sure if you all realised a chapter was there or not…Anyway, shutting up now so you can enjoy the next bit…

* * *

One month until the end of the year, two weeks until the end of year tests and one day until the selection of subjects for the next 5 years was due in. And what were our four boys doing? Lying on their beds trying to thinking of a prank to celebrate the end of their second year, well, sort of. That thought was in all four of the Marauders' minds, but there were others there that were taking precedent. Peter was more concerned with ways to avoid taking the tests, Sirius was thinking of girls he had yet to meet, James was trying to think of ways to help Remus with his wolfishness (as well as ways to convince him to tell Peter and Sirius about his condition), while Remus was sorting everyone's lessons.

All four had decided they wanted subjects together but they couldn't seem to agree on which to take. James and Sirius wanted to randomly pick them, Remus wanted to use a more systematic approach, choose them based on interest and ability, while Peter would just go along with all of them. These systems didn't gel wall for the four boys. Remus took over the selection, leading to this point.

"Have you got anything?" James asked.

Peter shook his head, Sirius and Remus answered at the same time.

"A thin brunette with blue eyes," was Sirius' grinning reply.

"Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures," Remus'.

"Stop!" James cried. "I meant pranks."

"Oh," they said collectively. "No."

James rolled his eyes, stood up and walked away.

"What's he so desperate for a prank for?" Peter asked when he was out of the room.

Sirius shrugged. "Who knows? But he's going to wish he hadn't left so quickly."

"Why?"

"He's got no pants on under his robes," Sirius commented with a smirk as he threw the trousers at Peter.

-

James walked down the corridors heading to a place he never thought he'd set foot in again; the library. The place scared him. It was deathly silent, the librarian looked, and sounded, remarkably like an Augurey, the only difference being that no one died when they heard her and, worst of all, there were books. He shuddered at the thought. What got him the most though, was that despite all this, people still went in, as though there was nothing else they could do. Sure he was about to go in himself, but he had important reasons to. He needed books he didn't have access to, these people though, they just seemed too live in there. It was creepy.

He arrived at the library and cautiously pushed open the door, expecting something to jump out at him. When it didn't he continued in, heading straight for the Magical Creatures section. Some might question how, if he rarely went in the library, he knew where to look, well, the simple answer is that, when it comes to something boys are truly interested in, they get a sense of the direction, like a tracking system, or a homing device, this is true for this occasion too.

He grabbed every book relevant to lycanthropy and headed for a table. He wasn't sure how long he was there, but it was a while until anyone interrupted him.

"Where's Sirius?" a high voice squeaked at him.

James lifted his head and saw Tacea standing before him. "Common room?" he suggested. "I don't know. I haven't seen him for…" he looked at his watch. "Three hours? Holy Merlin!"

It was then, as he looked back up at the girl, he saw she was paying little attention to him; in fact, her attention was focussed on the book he had been reading. He slammed it shut quickly.

"Tacea, what do you want? I've already told you I don't know where Sirius is, and even if I did, he doesn't want to see you."

Tacea pouted then sat on the chair next to James. "Why not?"

James shrugged, "You're not his type."

"Of course I am!" she cried. "I like him, I'm gorgeous and we make a perfect couple."

"And you're not the tiniest bit conceited," James remarked quietly.

If she heard him, she ignored him. "Something else is going on here. He wouldn't just stop wanting to go out with me like he did. You turned him against me didn't you?"

"No," James said defensively. "You did that all on your own." He said it without meaning to, but the response to his words was instantaneous.

Tacea's eyes narrowed. "What's that meant to mean."  
"Well," James answered. "He's not a big fan of self-obsessed spoilt little girls."

Tacea squealed in anger. "I'm not a little girl!"

James rolled his eyes, how could that be the one thing she shoots down as being possible?

"Whatever," he muttered. "If you like Sirius so much, why has it taken you six months to try and get him back?"

Tacea looked almost thoughtful for a minute. "Because he was going out with that stupid frizzy-haired red-head."

"You mean Evans?"  
"Yeah, her."

James began laughing; he knew that wasn't the reason just as much as she did. Tacea, angry at his disbelief, kicked him hard in the shin and stormed out of the library.

"Ow," James winced as he bent over to rub his leg. It was then, as he felt raw skin, he realised he was missing a pair of trousers. "Damn it," was his only comment.

-

At eight o'clock, James was thrown out of the library and, arms full of books, headed back up to the common room.

"Panem et circenses," James said to the Fat Lady portrait when he arrived.

"Is that really James?" she asked, astounded. "It can't be, James doesn't read…Or walk around trouser-less," she giggled as she opened up.

Grumbling James trudged up the stairs to his dormitory.

"James, are you feeling ok?" Remus remarked in shock when he saw his friend.

"Yes," James snapped, dropping all the books on his bed and rubbing his arms. "Where are the others?"

Remus shrugged. "Sirius got accosted by Tacea and Peter's off with Anita somewhere. Why?"  
James dropped his angry act as a wide grin split across his face. "I found the perfect prank."

"Oh, what?"

"Later," James instructed. "First I need to tell you something."

"What?"

"You need to tell the guys."

Remus frowned, "Tell the guys what?"

"Where you go every month."

"No."

"Remus…"

"I said no, James."

"But…"

"No! Now, do you want to see the subjects we're taking next year?"

James sighed. "Fine."

He glanced over the list and nodded. "Great…Tell them Re, they'll be fine with it, better than I was."  
He said it so fast that Remus didn't have time to interject.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to lose them."

James just shot him an 'Oh, please' look. "Think about who this is, Sirius and Peter. Peter won't tell a soul and Sirius…He'll love it. Please? I hate lying to them, and it's not good for us to keep secrets from each other."

Remus let out a huffy sigh. "Fine, but I hate you."

"Ok," James grinned.

There was silence for a few minutes and then Frank burst into the room. "Sorry guys, I'll just be a minute."

"No problem."

An hour later both Sirius and Peter had arrived.

"Guys, we have something to tell you," James said, meaning himself and Remus. "Remus is going to start."

So Remus told, and there was a moments silence until Sirius dived at him. "This means you can bite anyone and they'll become one too, right?"

Remus nodded solemnly.

"Great, bit Snape. The little git tried to get me with some weird feather charm before, I shoved Tacea in the way."

The boys shared laughter but it soon died away when they realised Peter had yet to say, or do, anything.

"Pete…" Remus started.

"You…you're…Does it hurt?"

Relief lit Remus' face and after a half hour question and answer session, it was James' turn.

"So while I was looking for a way to help Remus before, I came across _the_ perfect prank."

"Oh?"

"Yep," and so, with light-hearted spirits, the prank was retold and accepted until Frank came up to sleep and the four boys, seeing no point in the continuance of the conversation when it was so late, also went to bed.

-

So the month passed, Sirius was all but being stalked by Tacea. Everywhere he went she seemed to be there, he actually found his lessons to be a sanctuary as he had very few lessons with Slytherin. The ruder and more unwilling to be around her he got, the more she seemed to want to be around him, the whole situation was ludicrous to him. He tried being welcoming and she just lapped that up too. All Sirius wanted to do was distance himself from "serious" relationships so that he could concentrate on flings with the opposite sex, Tacea wouldn't let him. He wouldn't have minded but she didn't have that spark that his other two relationships had had. Alex had been fun to be around and balanced her me, me, me-ness with time for him to talk or whatever too. And Lily, well that hadn't been a proper relationship, but her ability to be her usual cold self while masking flirting, he'd loved it. Tacea was just too boring for him, he didn't like the obvious type - they were too self-absorbed. He needed to find a way to get away from her; he was just stuck on how to do it.

Peter's attention was more focused on his tests than the others realised. He was happy to play up with the boys, and it was true that he didn't really pay attention in lessons, but when it came to these tests he worried. So, when the others went to bed, he would stay up and revise. When the tests were over he spent his time with the boys or Anita but there was always nagging doubts at the back of his head; 'Did you revise enough? What if you were too tired from the late-night revision sessions? Why didn't you just revise with Remus? You know he'd have helped you.'

This last question was a very valid one since Remus was the only Marauder to do obvious revision. He spent over a month revising, and had no problem reminding the other three that the tests were approaching fast and they'd fail if they didn't do at least some revision. "So?" was their response. Remus just sighed and now that they were over took the moral high ground in the knowledge that he had worked hard to pass his tests. Now they were over he was helping James with what was now known as "The Prank" (note the capital 'P').

The Prank was James' pride and joy. Every minute was spent on it, some said he needed to get himself a life, but he didn't care, when they saw it they would take back their words, he could feel it. It was to go as follows; everyone would sit for the meal that commemorated the end another school year. When it was over and Dumbledore stood to give his speech he would be unable to speak. Instead a sound would come out that was very much like whichever animal Dumbledore most connected with. When the other professors tried to talk the same would happen to them, and then it would spread through to the pupils. Some might even show other aspects of the animal; their skin might change colour, or they might grow to suit the animals shape. It would wear off after a few hours, but the fun it would cause James and the other Marauders would last a lifetime.

The reason it required so much of James' time was that it involved not only perfecting a spell, but creating a particularly difficult potion. It normally took six weeks to create, but with James' limited time, he strived to have it ready in the month he had. It was ready for the night, but whether it would be effective remained to be seen.

-

The day arrived and, half an hour before the feast was due to start, the boys crept down to the kitchens where they proceeded to distract the house elves while Sirius poured the potion into the pumpkin juice that would be served that evening. The final evening of their second year was, in itself, a bittersweet triumph. The annual feast was as delicious as usual and not one person had a complaint about it, except Lily who got stuck next James and vice versa, and then Dumbledore stood up.

Dumbledore coughed to get peoples attention, as he did Remus cast the spell. When Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak a long mooing sound came out of his mouth.

Students and professors alike began laughing at their head's antics but as five minutes past and Dumbledore let out more of the mooing sounds, people began to worry. People turned to face each other, the intention of sharing panicked whispers, resulting in a room of chaos as more animal noises sounded. Barks, meows, neighs, shrill cries, squeaks, hisses, baas, moos, quacks, tweets, chirps, screeches, roars and other noises sounded.

The four Marauders sat in laughter as they heard the noises come from each other. James let out the groaning sound, Remus a screech, Sirius let out a deep bark and Peter a squeak. James wasn't at all surprised to hear Lily roar beside him. He knew she was vicious.

Enjoying their success, they didn't notice at first that people were changing, then it began happening to them. Very slowly they were becoming the animal they sounded like. James was turning into a stag, Remus a hawk, Sirius a black dog and Peter a rat. Others in the room changed too. Dumbledore became a giraffe, students and professors became birds, dogs, cats, wild animals, all running rampant in the Great Hall.

Suffice to say that when the prank finally wore off people were not happy. Everyone was sent to their dormitories, but not before seeing the utter destruction in the room. The house tables were broken into little pieces and spread across the floor, house banners ripped to shreds and the ancient stone walls chipped and cracked more than usual. People looked more than a little bit worse for wear too, bruises and scratches littered almost everyone's bodies and clothes were torn and ripped. How no one had got seriously hurt Dumbledore didn't question, he was just thankful they hadn't been.

As the Marauders went to leave they were called back.

"Just when we think you're starting to learn…" Dumbledore scolded. "And nothing we seem to do has any effect on you does it?"  
The boys stayed silent as every single professor turned angry but weary eyes to the boys.

"You boys really need to grow up," McGonagall told them.

Dumbledore nodded. "Which is why, starting next year, you will be mentoring first years. If even one of them gets into trouble you four are out, you understand? And there will be no trips to Hogsmeade."

The boys groaned. "Sir…"

"Bed, and have good holidays boys. Make sure you're nice and relaxed, you're going to have your work cut out for you."

So, hoping the punishment would be forgotten in the coming six weeks, the boys went to bed. The next morning there was the rush to pack everything and then they left Hogwarts, looking forward to the summer ahead.

* * *

What do you think? It's long, and I quite like it, except for the end, but I can change that if the rest of you don't. Hope you're all well.

Rae.


	36. Dotty James

My poor neglected James. I haven't written about you for a while now. Here, have a chapter…

* * *

Sun shone through a gap in the dark blue curtains, lighting James' peaceful face and waking him from a deep sleep. He yawned as he stretched out, 'Stupid sun.' he thought, rolling out of his bed with a loud _thud!_ From somewhere downstairs he heard a muffled voice saying "James is up then." But he couldn't make out its owner from upstairs so he put on his dressing gown and stumbled his way tiredly down the stairs.

Had he been awake enough he would have noticed the bags in the hall, the bags he tripped over, but as it was he wasn't, so trip over the bags he did. "Oof," he groaned as he landed sprawled out across the hall floor. That's when the kitchen door opened and six legs appeared in front of him.

Gentle chuckling and howling laughter sounded as hands grabbed his arms and helped him up.

"Are you ok baby?" Joanne fussed over him, playing with his hair and wiping down his robe.

"Yeah mum, I'm fine," James answered as he swatted away her hands. "Who put the stupid things there in the first place?"

The laughter stopped and a voice spoke up. "That would be me."

James looked over and saw his best friend stood there looking only slightly apologetic. "Should have guessed," James muttered. "What are you doing here?"

Sirius shrugged. "Staying for a bit, so long as your parents don't mind of course."

"We've already said you can," Henry put in before turning and walking back into the kitchen.

"Come on boys, your breakfast will be ruined," his mother spoke up before following her husband.

No sooner had she said it than both boys, reminded of what they were missing, were racing into the kitchen and shovelling food down their throats.

"Slow down!" Joanne scolded her son and surrogate son when she saw them. "You'll get indigestion."

"Whatever," James said between mouthfuls of food. He did slow down though, so did Sirius.

"So what are you two doing today?" Sirius asked Henry and Joanne.

"Work," Henry said as though the idea wasn't all that interesting. He worked in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry.

"Me too I'm afraid," Joanne said. "Cornelius wants me to look over a few documents. I should be back by four; you think you two can fend for yourselves until then?"

The boys nodded eagerly at the prospect of a day home alone, usually, if both of them were working, Joanne hired someone to look after them. But if today she wasn't just think of the things they could do.

That thought seemed to have crossed Joanne's mind too. "On second thoughts maybe we should get Mrs Fizzlebroom to look after you."

"No," Sirius said in an over-exaggerated sound of terror.

James shot him a look and then laughed slightly when he saw the look on Sirius' face, it matched his speech perfectly. He turned back to his mum. "You can't leave us with her, she's horrible. She makes us play board games and eat raw vegetables. We'd be better off on our own."

Henry smiled; he used to be looked after by Mrs Fizzlebroom too. "Perhaps they could be trusted this once, we can floo them regularly, and vice versa, and if _anything_ happens then they can stay with Mrs Fizzlebroom for the rest of the summer."

A look of horror crossed both boys' faces. "We'll be good," they promised, their fingers crossed beneath the kitchen table.

Joanne considered this for a moment. "Fine, but one _hint_ of trouble…"

"Ok mum, thanks!"

And with that the boys were racing up the stairs.

"We're going to regret this aren't we?" Joanne asked meekly seeing the enthusiastic boys.

Henry nodded solemnly, stood up and walked to his wife, taking her hand. "No doubt," he answered. "But at least we can palm them off on Francis for the rest of the summer if they do anything. Imagine - the house to ourselves for another few weeks."

Joanne's eyes shone at the thought. "You're right. Come on, the sooner we leave the sooner they can mess up," she laughed. Kissing her husband she disapparated, Henry shouted "Goodbye" to the boys and followed his wife.

"Are they gone?" James asked Sirius, whose ear was in the gap of the partially open door.

"I think; I heard some popping." Sirius said as he stood and closed the door.

"Good," James said heading to his en-suite bathroom. "Unpack and then we can get started on business."

Sirius grinned and headed downstairs to get his bags. He was halfway down the stairs when a shout reached his ears. He quickly raced back up again.

"What?" he panted when he got back into the room.

James was stood in front of him wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts and an anxious expression on his face.

"Not what I need to see mate," Sirius commented wryly, shielding his eyes.

"Shut up and look," James choked out. "What're they?" He pointed at his chest which was covered in lots of small red dots.

Sirius shrugged. "Looks like a rash?"

James scratched the dots. "It's not a rash! It's too big, and it's spread all over, look." He turned around and sure enough there were identical dots on his back.

"Oh yeah…" Sirius said, not really sure what he was meant to do.

"And they're itchy," James moaned, scratching them.

"Ha?" Sirius said, still uncertain.

James glared at him. "Be more helpful." He demanded in a whining tone. "Get me something to cool this itching, please," he whimpered.

Sirius did as he was asked, going into the main bathroom to raid the medicine cupboard. He came back with a bottle of thick white liquid and some cotton wool. He was about to put it on James when a thought occurred to him.

"Is it contagious?"

James looked at his best friend as though he were crazy. "I'm itching like mad and you're bothered about whether or not it's contagious? Put it on!"

Sirius shook his head. "Wait a minute." He disappeared downstairs and when he came back he was dressed in too long rain-coat style trousers tucked inside thick leather boots. He was wearing a matching rain-coat jacket and dragon hide gloves. On his face was a beekeepers hat. "Okay, ready!" he announced cheerfully.

James rolled his eyes. "You look ridiculous but whatever. Hurry up." His voice sounded desperate so Sirius hurried and put the lotion on James' chest, stomach and back. The relief was instant but it only lasted a few minutes.

"Do you want me to floo your parents?" Sirius asked, amused by his friend's behaviour but worried because of his constant whimpering.

James nodded and Sirius scuttled off. Five minutes passed when he returned. "You're out of luck mate, they're out to lunch."

James groaned, partly from his disappointment and partly because of the intense itching sensation. He scratched again.

"Stop it," Sirius ordered. "You'll wipe the lotion off. Get some pants on and we'll go to the Ministry."

It was James' turn to do as instructed and the two boys, one dressed as some kind of fashion-challenged bee-keeper and the other wearing a pair of loose jeans and what, from a distance, looked like white war paint on his upper torso, set off to floo to the Ministry.

Sorry about the delay. Enjoy what's there, I might be good and get the next chapter out on Wednesday, but I have a mountain of work to do so we'll see.

* * *

Oh, and just before any of you think to complain about Joanne and Henry and how they seemed eager to get rid of James for the holidays. It was meant as light-hearted banter that shows the two of them know how much of a handful their son can be, especially when Sirius is around. They wouldn't **really** send James away…for long anyway :D

Right. Some replies to reviews I think, just 'cos I'm bored.

**Fairybells: **It wasn't that original I'm ashamed to say…I kind of stole the idea off the 3rd film. You know the random scene where they're eating the sweets? Very odd so I thought I'd adapt it. Glad you liked it though.

**Sam:** You always seem so enthusiastic. You're not one of those odd, naturally cheery people are you? Scarily crazy and hyper I can handle but naturally cheery? CREEPY! Anyway, now there's a possibility I've insulted you I'll say glad you liked the prank and how do you like the way this chapters gone?

**Lili**I had a lot of trouble finding an animal that suited Dumbledore because Phoenix just seemed so obvious. I went for Giraffe because they're tall (like Dumbledore), rather odd (like Dumbledore) and I always thought that they're was something cool but mysterious about giraffes (why do they have to be that tall anyway?) and I always saw Dumbledore as being similar in that way. I don't know, I might have it completely wrong but that's my opinion. What do you think he should have been? And Dumbledore did find it amusing, but would you want to show that when you've got a very angry group of teaching staff behind you? As if McGonagall wasn't bad enough you've got everyone else too, and besides, it was kind of dangerous if you think about it. Don't worry, I have things worked out in my head, especially after you brought this up, the boys will see Dumbledore was impressed and amused, it'll just take a while. And as for Hogsmeade, you'll have to see, I can't go giving away all my ideas can I? ; )

**Rachael: **Thanks for the oh-so informative review(!) Only joking, seriously Thank you for even bothering to review.

**Kei:** Oh my odd psychotic friend, I've already thanked you in person but I just re-read your review and I have just one teensy-weensy comment: Why aren't those gold stars real? They'd go nicely in my locker with that green feather ball!

And a few older review replies:

**Katie:** What do you think is going to happen now they've broken up? Hmm…

**Krapster:** I do try to make Growing Up… different but it probably just seems so much because I keep jumping from one thing to the next! But it seems to be working if you're liking it. And isn't Sirius the greatest? You should see the calculator I use in my school exams, I got bored at the end of a maths exam last year, maybe the year before… whistles innocently

That's enough for today. Sorry if I've left anyone out. Busy, busy, busy!

Rae

PS: Does anyone else think this chapter seemed a bit...basic?


	37. First Time At The Ministry

There were no walls around them, just barriers that they bounced off as they whooshed through the floo network. They landed suddenly in a bright fireplace in the entrance hall of the Ministry. Wiping dust off their odd assortment of clothes, James and Sirius stepped into the Ministry for the first time.

"Whoa," Sirius awed as he looked around.

Peacock-blue coloured ceiling with gold symbols, immaculately polished wooden floor, high wooden walls; one wall full of glass checkout-style reception windows the other two contained numerous fireplaces, Instead of a fourth wall was around twenty booths, a security guard in each one and in the very centre of this was a magnificent gold fountain.

"Yeah," James agreed as he walked towards the fountain to get a better look at the statues. "Fountain of Magical Brethren." He read from the sign and looked at the witch, wizard, house elf and centaur figures that took pride of place on the statue. "Wonder what that's about?" In the time he stood looking at the statues and the water he was less irritated by his spots, the itchiness hadn't gone, but it was a little more bearable.

Sirius was heading towards the reception desks to find out where Joanne was but he was having a lot of trouble with it. This room seemed to be quite busy; people rushed in and out, none of them caring that two thirteen year-old boys were in there alone. Eventually he made it.

"Uh…" He began to speak to the receptionist.

"One moment please," a monotonous voice answered.

Sirius waited patiently but after five minutes he still hadn't had a response.

"Excuse me…"

"One moment please," the voice repeated even more bored this time than last.

Another few minutes past and Sirius was getting annoyed.

"Hey!" he said loudly.

A woman's head popped out from behind the desk and looked at him, she even looked bored. "One mom…"

"You've had a moment," Sirius interrupted. "In fact, you've had ten! Now I need to speak to a Mister or Mrs Potter, do you think you can help me?"

The woman's dull expression brightened when she actually saw Sirius. "Well aren't you just a cutie? Are you their son?"

"No," Sirius answered, intending to be cold but unable to keep it up as the woman smiled at him. "He is," he gestured back to James. "We need to see one of them; can you get them for us?"

"No," the receptionist answered simply.

"What do you mean, 'no'?"

"Just that. They're not here at the moment; you can wait here for them if you wish?"

"Can't we wait in one of their offices?"

"No."

"Please? We won't do anything."

"How do I know that he's really they're son?"

Sirius considered this for a moment, she had a point, and then it hit him. "James! Hey Jay, get over here!"

James, who was still amazed by the fountain, heard Sirius shouting him and, after finally working out where he was, ran up to him.

"Yeah?"

"Look at this woman and tell her your parents names and date of birth."

James frowned but did as his friend said. He looked at the receptionist and said, "My fathers name is Henry James Potter, he was born 7th April 1954, my mother is Joanne Potter, but her maiden name is Rilbit, she was born 23rd November 1953. Why do you want to know?"

The receptionist grinned, "Well you know the information, and you look like Henry sure, but anyone can use magic and research. Sorry guys, you'll have to wait I'm afraid."

"Why?" Sirius asked. "It's not like they do big secret dangerous work is it? No."

The receptionist was oddly silent.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing," she answered innocently. "Nothing at all. Now go on, sit down, you'll have to wait."

Both boys moaned and James began scratching his itches once more. With crestfallen faces they began to walk away until the receptionist called them back.

"Tell you what," she said, taking pity on them. "If you can tell me what Henry wrote as the thing he treasured most when he applied for his job you can go in." She knew that no one could guess that unless they really knew Henry, and if they did genuinely know him then she saw no problem in letting them in.

"Oh, I know!" Sirius said quickly. "His money!"

"Sorry, no," the receptionist answered.

Between scratching James hit Sirius. "Idiot, dad doesn't care about money. If he was going to even answer that question he would say something like his sense of fun that he can share and brighten people's lives with."

The receptionist smiled. "Well done, I'll just get your visitors badges. Names?"

"James Potter and…"

He didn't get to say Sirius name because Sirius got in there first. He saw James name appear on a badge immediately and grinned mischievously. "Hugh Jass."

"Right…James, Hugh, here are your badges, if you take them over to there you will be directed to the floor you need." She pointed to the security booths.

"Thanks, come on, this is killing me," James said and the two sprinted across the large room to the security booths.

"Badges?" the guard asked, interrupting his conversation with another guard.

James and Sirius handed their badges over.

"Ok, we've got a Hugh Jass and…"

"Speak for yourself mate," the other guard interrupted with a peeved look on his face.

"What?" the first guard frowned.

"Huge ass? I think you're getting confused with yourself."

"I didn't…Oh, funny kid." The guard muttered as it clicked. "Go get a badge with your real name or neither of you are going anywhere."

"Sirius, hurry up." James groaned at his friend's stupidity. If he had to put up with this pain much longer he'd personally make sure Sirius ended up with it too.

A few minutes later Sirius was back with the proper badge clipped to his raincoat and the other tucked in the pocket.

"Sirius Black, James Potter. That seems a bit more like it. You're here to see Mr and Mrs Potter?"

"Either of them, but yeah," James answered the guards question, not allowing Sirius to talk in case it postponed them even more.

"Okay, go down the hall and take the first left, then a right, straight down and third on the right. They'll be right there."

Sirius frowned, "I thought…" But whatever he thought the guards didn't hear because James began pushing him down the corridor. What they would have heard though is this, "…That they weren't here?"

"Obviously the receptionist got it wrong." James muttered, hurrying down the corridor.

When the found the door and entered the room Joanne and Henry were already there.

"What are you doing here?" Henry asked them the minute the door was closed.

"And what are you wearing?" Joanne admonished.

James answered so quickly that they only understood certain bits. "See…rash…itchy…floo…here."

"What?" they both asked.

Sirius jumped in. "He found a rash, it was itchy, we tried to floo you but there was no answer so we came here."

Henry rolled his eyes. "And you couldn't wait till we got home because…?"

"It's really itchy," James whimpered.

Joanne sighed. "Sit down and let's get this lotion off…"

She waved her wand and the lotion vanished but a rose smell hung in the air. "Was that my moisturiser!" She asked in awe.

Sirius looked a little guilty. "Maybe, it was in a big unlabelled bottle."

"Sirius!" She cried.

"Never mind that dear," Henry said quickly, trying to relieve Sirius of her anger. "We need to hurry up; you can deal with your cream later, just check James over now."

Joanne sighed, she knew he was right. She put her efforts in looking at her son's rash, which was now spreading to his neck. "Well, looks like you were right to wear that ridiculous outfit, Sirius."

"Why? What's wrong with me? Am I going to die?" James asked as he scratched again.

Joanne laughed. "Not quite, you've just got chicken pox that's all…"

"I'm going to turn into a chicken!" James asked, cutting off his mum.

"Don't be stupid James. You'll be fine. But Sirius can catch it, so we'll have to send him home."

"I'll take my chances," Sirius said hastily.

"Well, if you're parents don't mind I guess its okay…It's probably better if you get them now anyway."

Sirius nodded.

A rapid beeping sounded; Henry looked at his watch and sighed. "Love, we've got to go. The boys will be fine if they go straight home."

"Can't we stay with you?" James asked.

Henry and Joanne shared a quick look before answering. "Maybe next summer when you're not ill." Henry answered.

"Aww…" James said, scratching his shoulder.

"Sorry," Henry said.

"Stop scratching," Joanne said. "Just go straight home and Sirius, there's a bottle next to my bed labelled 'calamine lotion', put that on James' spots and make sure he doesn't scratch. We'll be home in a couple of hours."

"Ok, see you later then," Sirius said.

"'Bye," Joanne and Henry said before quickly rushing out of the room.

"'Bye," James said dejectedly.

"What's up with you?" Sirius asked as they walked back out and towards the fireplaces.

"I'm stuck like this," James complained.

"Never mind," Sirius said brightly. "I'll keep you company, but I'm keeping this on," his hand waved over his mismatched outfit. "Don't want to get it myself do I? It looks painful."

"It's not," James assured him. "Just irritating."

And so the two boys went back through the whoosh-whooshing network and landed in James' house. Sirius put the lotion onto James and he, in turn, did the same when Sirius, despite his 'protective' clothing, got them too. In the four weeks it took for the chicken pox to actually go, the boys read every magazine in the house 6 times over and did some of their holiday homework. They left the house several times but only once did they go further than the garden, two days before they were due back at Hogwarts when they had to go to Hogsmeade to get their supplies. They met Peter and Remus while they were but in general their summer was quite boring, like James said, "It sucks being ill during the holidays. Why couldn't we get it before the holidays? We'd have got out of the tests then!"

* * *

A bit longer and all you're going to get for a week.

I'm thinking about starting a new fic, another L/J, I don't really write anything else, but this will be AU and set after Hogwarts. Lily and James didn't go out, Lily liked James but he didn't like her, Lily is visited bya spirit and has to help it by travelling across the country, she picks James up along the way and...Well I'm not telling you everything but what do you think? I'll write it better than it sounds obviously, but I really like the idea. Anyway yeah, I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Rae


	38. Impressive

"Petunia, are you ready yet?" Lily's voice carried up the stairs.

"Yeah, yeah," her sister's voice shouted back.

Five minutes later there was still no sign of her.

"Mum…" Lily whined as Kathryn passed through the hall.

Kathryn sighed. "She's still not ready? PETUNIA!"

"I'm coming, chill."

"Good because if you're not down here in two minutes we're going without you." Kathryn went back into the main house after this, so she didn't hear Petunia's sarcastic reply.

"Like that'd be a big loss."

"Petunia, put the phone down and come on, we're going to be late," Lily pleaded, annoyed at her sister's ignorance and lateness.

"Freak, get lost, I'm trying to talk here."

Lily sighed and went into the kitchen to make a sandwich while she waited. 'I can't believe that selfish…If we're late I'll kill her. Or even better, I'll curse her.' She thought, or at least she thought she did.

"Don't bother, I can do without the hassle," Jack commented with a weary smile, hearing his daughter's mumbling.

"Oh, but…"

Jack laughed, "'It'll be fun,' I know but you know Petunia would probably move out to get away from you if you did."

"Like that'd be a big loss," Lily mumbled, imitating her sister's tone.

"Lily…" Jack began warningly.

Lily sighed, "I know, I know." She picked up her sandwich. "I'm going to hurry her up."

She took a bite of the sandwich then headed back into the hall. She was about to shout upstairs when a better idea popped into her head. Less than a moment later a loud scream shook the house.

"What have you done? I was talking!" She shouted as she came thudding down the stairs.

Lily stood at the bottom of the stairs with the phone cable in her right hand; her left hand lifted the sandwich to her mouth. She made her sister wait until she had chewed and swallowed before answering, "And we're waiting to go out."

Petunia's already red face seemed to turn an even brighter shade. "You…"

"What's going on?" Kathryn asked as she and Jack came running into the hall.

Lily dropped the cable casually. "Nothing," she answered innocently. "Petunia was just letting us know she's ready to go, isn't that right?"

"No," Petunia answered irritably. "She just…"

"I don't care." Jack said tiredly. The whole holidays he and Kathryn had been forced to stop fights between their daughters, it was tiresome to say the least. "You're off the phone now so go and get changed and we can go."

"I _am_ changed," Petunia answered. She was wearing light blue mini skirt with a white vest t-shirt and a light blue jacket. On her feet was a pair of heeled sandals.

"Petunia, you know you're too young to be wearing that, get changed." Jack snapped at his eldest daughter.

"I hate you, if it was Lily wearing it you'd let her," Petunia pointed out as she stormed up the stairs.

"Except I wouldn't be wearing that to begin with," Lily called after her. "I don't like looking like a teenage pro–"

"Lily, get in the car," Kathryn gasped.

"Sure, if it means we get there faster," Lily said brightly as Jack handed her the keys, not minding the least as she escaped a mild telling off.

Five minutes later they were on the way, Petunia and Lily sat in the back, Kathryn and Jack in the front seats. Petunia was now dressed in jeans and a more modest t-shirt on this hot summer night.

"So how long is it going to take to get there?" Lily asked eyes full of glee at the surprise that lay ahead.

"Only about thirty minutes," Jack answered turning the steering wheel.

Lily frowned, "Half an hour, where are we going? It's not that tacky medieval-themed restaurant just outside of town is it? Because I think we're a bit old for plastic crowns and goodie bags."

Jack and Kathryn shared a look of amusement before Kathryn turned around. "No, it's much better than that."

"Where are we going then?"

Beside Lily Petunia rolled her eyes and huffed, "Can't we just tell her and put her out of her misery? She's beginning to annoy me."

Kathryn looked from one daughter to the other. So different she found it hard to believe, even now, Petunia was looking at her with bored, slightly angry eyes, and a face to match while Lily was beaming, her face full of eager anticipation at what was to come, and she didn't even know what it was.

"She can wait," Kathryn smiled. "She'll find out soon enough."

Petunia sighed. "Fine, make her shut up and stop bouncing the seat then."

Lily spent the rest of the journey stationary, though she didn't stop talking. When they stopped and got out of the car her already large grin grew and she wondered how Petunia could not be excited.

"Circus, excellent!" Lily cried.

"Not the words," Petunia muttered under her breath. "Two hours of boredom more like."

"We'll see," Lily said, running off ahead of her parents.

The circus was situated in a large field on the outskirts of the town. The huge Big Top tent was sat in the very centre and around it were a few stalls of the usual side-stall variety, the kind you spend lots of money on but rarely win anything. They were just closing as clowns outside the tent began to usher people inside for the beginning of the show.

"Can I have some candy floss?" Lily asked her parents the minute she saw the stall.

Kathryn grinned, already holding out the money for her daughter. Lily took it and ran off for some candy floss.

"You want some popcorn?" Kathryn asked Petunia.

"No, thank you," Petunia said in icy tones.

Kathryn glared at her. "Will you stop it? This is meant to be a late birthday treat for your sister since she wasn't here at the time. You can enjoy or not but you're still going to have to sit through it; it just might be more fun if you try. Now, let's try again, would you like some popcorn?"

Petunia put on a fake smile, "No thank you," she repeated, her voice fake cheery.

"Ok, fine."

At this point Lily was back, sat down and the lights went out. Two spotlights lit and shone in the centre where there now stood a clown wearing long, deep red, flared trousers and a matching jacket trimmed with black.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the final night of the Keltzmann Family Circus. Prepare yourselves for an evening of pure delight as you witness death-defying stunts and dangerous aerobatics for your own enjoyment. Before we begin I must warn you all that these acts are done after years of training and at great peril to those doing them, for these reasons they must not be attempted at home or anywhere else. On with the show!"

Again the lights went out, then the spotlights came on once more and four people were stood in the ring; two boys, two girls. A voice boomed from speakers around the tent.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our evening begins with a performance by the Keltzmann's youngest members who will amaze you with some skipping!"

"Oh, this is ridiculous," Petunia whispered, unimpressed by the idea.

"Shh," people hissed around her.

Lily watched amazed as the four people took the simplest of activities and turned it into an art form as they twisted and weaved their way over and under the rope, across it. Each time the skipping got more and more complex as extra ropes were added or they went in different directions, making them cross over in an "+" shape. Next was an act with a clown, a tiger, an elephant and a young woman and after that a knife thrower. Each time the stunts got more daring and the accompanying music faster and more raucous. After a time the lights went off again and the main lights came back on.

"We now break for a short intermission, during this time we advise you stretch your legs and use the facilities provided as we want no accidents in what is to come; the most dangerous of feats ever done. For those of you who wish them, refreshments are available."

"So, how do you like it?" Jack asked his daughters.

Lily's wide eyes shone, "It's amazing."

Petunia made a noise, "I wouldn't go that far, but it's not as bad as I was expecting."

Kathryn smiled slightly behind her eldest daughter. "Excuse me," she said as she got up and headed out of the tent.

Lily took a bite of her uneaten candy floss.

"Too enthralled to eat?" Jack asked humorously. "You must be impressed."

Lily grinned as she ripped a bit off and popped it on her tongue, enjoying the sensation as it melted. "I am."

Petunia rolled her eyes. "I'd like a drink, can I have some money?"

Jack gave her some then turned back to Lily. "I know it doesn't compare to anything you could do at your school, but we thought you'd enjoy it."

Lily looked at him, hand stopping half way to her mouth with another chunk of candy floss. "Are you kidding? This is so much better, magic's great, but once you've learnt it you're left thinking 'What's next? What can I do that's better than this?' And even when I have learnt it, I can't show it to anyone other than the people in that world who already know about it because of exposure. These people, they spend their whole life learning one thing and then variations of it, for an act that they can use to impress and amaze people. It's nothing life changing, but for a few hours they get to be the centre of attention and show people what they can do. That is what's impressive."

Jack looked curiously at his thirteen-year old daughter.

"What?" Lily asked through a mouthful of candy floss.

Jack shook his head, "You're growing up," he answered. "And becoming a very intelligent and wise young lady with it, that's all. I'm impressed with you, never mind this thing."

Lily laughed, "As if!"

Kathryn and Petunia got back at the same time to find both Jack and Lily laughing, "What's so funny?" They asked.

"Nothing," Lily said as she turned back around to face the ring just in time for the lights to go out.

Once more the spotlights came on but this time there was no one in the ring. Before Lily had even a chance to frown the voice spoke through the speakers again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have now reached the final act for the evening. Prepare yourselves for the sight of your life as you witness this man," The spotlights shone to a figure stood on a high platform attached to a thin wire that diagonally cut across the tent to another platform. "Attempts to walk across the high wire. 'Easy', I hear you say. 'People do that everyday', but do they do it in this way?"

The man on the platform took hold of a large stick to help his balance and made his way carefully across the wire. Half way across he stopped and let go of his balancing pole. It fell the sixteen metres to the ground, landing with a large _thud_. The audience gasped and watched in awe as they saw the man do a half somersault in the air and catch the wire. Applause sounded the second he caught the wire. He proceeded to spin around the wire, starting with two hands, letting go of one then letting go of that one, quickly putting the one he released onto the wire so that for a split second he held onto nothing. The audience took a collective gasp the minute he did so, releasing it only when both hands were on the wire once more. His spinning stopped when he reached the top of the wire, here he balanced upside down, his arms shaking with the effort to support his body, and then he did another half somersault, attempting to land with both feet on the wire to continue walking across. However, his foot slipped off the wire and he began hurtling towards the floor.

It all happened in a blur. Screams shouted, workers from the circus ran to the ring, hoping to catch their friend and colleague and the audience watched in horror as he fell. Then, with a sudden flash of inspiration, one little red head stood up, her wand, which she always had on her whether she was in school or not, was out and pointed at the falling man and words crying from her mouth. "Wingardium Leviosa!" She shouted with all her will. The man's descent fell and by the time he was a few metres from the ground he was falling at so slow a speed that the impact he felt was barely there and if it left any marks it was a small bruise. Lily panted at the effort it took out of her when he was safely on the ground. Fatigue spread through her and it was all she could do not to fall over, she gripped her father for support but dropped her wand, which her mother luckily picked up for her.

"Is he alright?" she asked.

Jack watched as the man picked himself up batted away the fussing crowd around him, hoping to see who had helped him. The audience was in shock, their attention split between the man who had fallen and the person who had shouted. They did not know who it was; the voice had seemed so grown up that no one thought to look at the little red-head who clung to her father, believing she was just a girl afraid of the night's events, this was the thought of the man too.

"He's fine," Jack soothed his daughter, giving a look to Kathryn. "Maybe we should go home?"

Kathryn nodded, "Good idea, come on Petunia."

Amidst the confusion in the tent, no one noticed the Evans family make a hasty exit. The car was silent on the drive home. Petunia saw her sister as even more of a freak now, witnessing her magic first-hand and Kathryn and Jack didn't know what to say, any questions they may have had they couldn't ask because Lily fell asleep the minute she was sat in the car.

-

Lily woke late the next day to an empty house. She went downstairs and helped herself to some food from the kitchen and headed into the living room where there sat a brown owl with an official looking letter tied to its leg. Lily took it with shaking hands, a feeling spreading through her that it would be a letter telling her she had been banned from the Magical World for using magic over the holidays and that somebody would be coming to take her wand. She had already received such letters during her last summer, warning her of the misuse of magic and that any further use of magic during holidays would result in such a punishment. She opened it and read:

_Dear Miss Evans,_

_We have become aware of the illegal use of a levitation charm at the place of one Keltzmann Family Circus. You have received letters warning you of using magic outside of Hogwarts before and the consequences that go with it. However, after consulting both Herr Keltzmann and Professor Dumbledore we are aware of the facts involved in this incident and feel that such punishments would be wrong under the circumstances. Instead we applaud your quick thinking and ability at Charms but ask that you keep the incident quiet. A mind wipe is taking place on all the muggles present when this happened and talking about it would simply lead to confusion._

_We therefore respect your silence and once again congratulate you._

_G. Maykins_

_Minister of Magic_

Lily flopped onto the couch, relief flowing through her. She wasn't in trouble after all. She switched on the television and watched some of the day time soaps while she waited for someone to come home.

-

Before she went to bed that night, Lily sat in the living room with her parents.

"Mum," she began. "Do you have my wand?"

"What? Oh, yes, over there," Kathryn answered.

Lily saw it and took it, happy as she felt the familiar wood.

Jack seemed to take this as an opportunity and asked Lily to sit down.

"What's up?" she asked with a frown as she sat back down.

"Nothing, we just wanted to say, about yesterday…" Jack answered.

"We're so proud of you sweetie," Kathryn. "Saving that man like that."

Jack grinned, "Very impressive of you."

Lily laughed, "Ok, thank you. I don't think I can take all the sweetness though, I'm going to bed. 'Night."

Kathryn and Jack smiled. "Good night sweetie."

Lily headed out of the room, through the kitchen, into the hall and up the stairs. As she went up them she passed the opposite side of the living room wall, through which she could hear her parents talking.

"She was amazing, I didn't realise she was so good. Do they all have that much ability do you think? Because if they have the power to do that, then surely they have the power to do the opposite and…"

"Jack, don't think like that," Kathryn admonished. "Lily won't do anything like that, that's all that matters."

"I know," Jack agreed. "But it makes you wonder."

Kathryn nodded, "I know," she said fearfully.

Lily gasped and went up to bed, not angry that they thought she could do something like that, because she knew they didn't really think she could, no, their words just brought up a memory of that note and the suspicions she'd had a few months ago as to whether the muggle-hating wizard really existed. With these horrible thoughts she went to sleep. It was just a few days until September 1st when her new start would begin.

* * *

Hey! I know my bio on my page says I'm not updating 'til after my exams but I got bored so I thought I'd write a nice long chapter for you instead :D I definitely won't have the next chapter until the 9th at the earliest so enjoy this nice long one. Sorry if it seems random and rushed! The ending I've just had to cram in because I was due off the comp 15 minutes ago!

ENJOY!

Rae


	39. Bridging The Gap

_For our group, their third year was so fun that it passed quickly. Very quickly. In fact, it passed so quickly that before they knew it, it was over and summer was gone. It was now time for fourth year._

**A/N: **Only joking :D Really, I will be skipping the third year but only because for this story the third year is one of the most important and I don't want to mess it up by dragging it on too long or forgetting to include something, you know what I mean, right? Well, I'll be going to fourth year, this chapter bridging the beginning of third and fourth, and everything that you miss out in third year I will go back to by including them as flashbacks. These will be written in italics (as above) and will probably, unless I forget, be clearly marked by either "**FLASHBACK" **or "**F/B". **Ok, that said let's get on with the story.

* * *

As the September of 1975 started and 11.15 rolled around, excitement filled the pupils of Hogwarts as they left Kings Cross Station. Some were filled with nervous anticipation as they awaited the first glimpse of what was to become their new home. For others there was an almost sadness as they realised that this was the last time they would journey to the place that had brought them so many memories, both good and bad. Then there was another group, the ones who were neither starting Hogwarts nor preparing to leave it. These were the ones who were excited to catch-up, explore new areas and learn new things, but mostly, they were the ones who wanted that feeling of belonging that you get when you are finally accepted. The same feeling that most muggles spend their whole lives trying to find but never quite manage.

The students headed to Hogwarts were not the only ones hoping to remember that feeling of belonging that had been lost to them over the past 6 weeks. A small selection of Hogwarts students were headed to Beauxbatons, France and every fibre of their being was praying that they would be accepted there as easily as they had been at Hogwarts. None of the delegation wanted this more that Lily, who felt like she hadn't belonged anywhere in a long while.

What all of these students didn't realise, what they didn't know, was that this was the year that would test everything they knew. Those who felt their school was the place they belonged would soon find themselves feeling it was a living hell as waves of terror and suspicion spread throughout the students. Personal terrors would haunt some while others would find their loyalties tested. But for some, those lucky few, the trials they were about to face would merely serve to strengthen the bonds between them and make them realise that the thing they needed all along was the thing they'd always had. That school year, 1953 – 1954, our groups third year, would be such a challenge that it would mould and affect everyone and help in shaping them to be who they were born to be.

- - - - - - -

"I hope this year's less eventful than last," Marie commented as she sat beside Remus, snuggling into him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Me too," Remus agreed with a small yawn.

He and Marie were sat in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express with the other Marauders, Alice and Narcissa on their way to Hogwarts to start their fourth year. It was a tight squeeze but Narcissa made a little extra space, choosing to sit on James' knee rather than the seat. Obviously in the last year there had been some rather odd developments.

"I doubt it could be more so," Sirius remarked bitterly.

James nodded. "At least Evans won't be able to scare the hell out of us all again."

Alice shot him a look, "She didn't, and that was one of the only surprises of the year that was actually nice, except for those two of course." She pointed at Remus and Marie who smiled at each other before smiling back at Alice.

"You're kidding right? Waking up and going down the stairs to see a rain-drenched, make-up running wild thing standing in the common room was not a nice surprise, especially when the first thing she says is a threat to cut your pieces off the muggle way if you make any comment about her."

Narcissa rolled her eyes, "Don't worry baby, I'd have made sure she didn't."

"I know you would," James cooed at her making everyone in the carriage want to gag.

"Anyway," Sirius said quickly, the idea of his cousin and best friend already making him sick to the stomach, he didn't need to see it too. "Why did she come back? Did she ever tell you?" He was talking to the girls in the carriage.

"No, thank Merlin," Narcissa said, actually sounding relieved.

Alice and Marie shook their heads. "She told us bits, not everything."

"Tell us then," Peter urged them.

- - - -

**FLASHBACK: **

_Lily fled the Hall, running all the way back to her dorm room, thankful they were single-rooms. She didn't cry, tears stung her eyes but not once did they flow over. What was wrong with her? She always let people get to her, and this lot more than anyone else ever. She was always trying to be someone she wasn't here, at least at Hogwarts, no matter how bad she'd felt, there was always someone around to help her. Marie, Alice, Jacob, Remus…Thinking about him made a small pinch at the bottom of her thought. As she began to think of Hogwarts and the thing she was missing she even began to put Alex and the Marauders in there too, not that she would ever tell them that. She compared her years at Hogwarts to the two-thirds of the one she'd spent here at Beauxbatons. Not once had she felt comfortable here, not really, not if she really admitted it, and now she knew what they really thought of her, she had to leave. Hogwarts was the place she was meant to be._

_In a flash she was off her bed, out of her dorm and headed to the Professors dorms. She banged on Monsieur Gladen's door._

"_Oui?" he asked, irritated at being interrupted._

"_Sorry, Monsieur, I don't mean to interrupt you it's just…I was wondering, can I go back to Hogwarts?"_

"'_Ogwarts?"_

"_Yes, it's where I want to be."_

"_Mademoiselle Evans, can we talk about thees in thee morning?"_

"_No," Lily said boldly. Most pupils were afraid of their head, even Lily was really, but her desire to go back was outweighing any fears she had._

_Gladen sighed. "You cannot leeave Beauxbatons until thee end of the year, they are thee conditions of the exchange."_

_Lily looked at him with pleading eyes but the Professor still refused. With a sighing growl Lily left but not without making a lot of noise on her way._

**FLASHBACK END**

**- - - -**

"She wanted to some back, she says she missed us and wanted to see us again," Marie said.

"That's it?" Peter asked, a little letdown that's all it was.

"According to Lily that's all there is to it, yeah."

"Rubbish!" Sirius announced.

"What?"

"Well think about it, if that's all it was, why didn't Dumbledore know she was coming back? And why was she so wet? Even if she'd got a portkey to the grounds only she wouldn't have been that wet. She looked like she hadn't rested for a few days. I reckon she ran from there."

Marie gasped in shock, Alice looked at him like he was crazy, as did Remus, Peter and James looked like they agreed with Sirius.

"Don't be stupid Sirius," Narcissa snapped at her cousin. "Miss goody-goody would never run away."

"Actually, she did," a voice spoke up from the doorway.

"What!" Narcissa asked, her normally composed stature sagging slightly in shock.

"Petal, she ran away from Beauxbatons. No one liked her so she upped and left one night." The person moved into the carriage and flopped herself beside Sirius who shifted over as far away from her as he could.

"Whatever, Alex," Marie said, not believing her.

"She did," Alex protested.

"Tell me all then," Narcissa said, wanting all the gossip.

- - - -

**FLASHBACK:**

"_Where eez Mademoiselle Evans?" Gladen asked the student body the morning after the dance._

_The whole room was silent, no one knew._

"_Where eez she?" he asked again, a little more frantic this time._

_Alex put her hand up. "Sir? We haven't seen her, not since she stormed out of the hall last night."_

_He blinked, "S'étendre. Chercher partout," he commanded to the professors. "Nous devons la trouver."_

_After a thorough search of the school the professors concluded that Lily was nowhere in the building._

"_If anyone has any idea where she eez then please tell us."_

_Gladen was once again addressing the student population who remained silent. He and the other teachers had searched her dorm to find her few belongings gone and her school books left behind. There was no trace informing them she was coming back, and that's because she wasn't. Late the night before, after Gladen had refused to help her, Lily had packed her stuff and crept out of the chateau, heading for the nearest town. She used the little muggle money she had to buy train fare to Calais then settled herself on for the long journey._

**FLASHBACK END**

**- - - -**

"You're joking?" Peter asked stunned.

"Of course not!" Alex exclaimed after telling them the tale.

"Don't sound so defensive," Sirius remarked. "It's not like you've never lied before."

Alex was silent for a moment before speaking. "Not to you I haven't."

The whole carriage went silent waiting for Sirius to say something but instead he snorted, "Whatever."

"Fine, believe me or not," Alex said. "But think about this, if she didn't run away and it wasn't because no one liked her, why wouldn't she tell you all what really happened?"

She left the room then, unwilling to put up with their doubt, plus they were nearing Hogwarts and she needed to change into her robes.

"Do you believe her?" Marie asked Remus, breaking the silence of the room.

Remus shrugged. "I don't know. It certainly fits with Sirius' theory that Lily ran away but wouldn't she tell us? We're her friends, she doesn't keep secrets from us."

Alice interrupted, "But she was acting really weird when she got back. Something might have happened."

"Like what?" Remus asked concerned.

Narcissa sighed. "Who cares, she's just a stupid little mudblood. Can we move on? Or get changed or something? I'm fed up of talking about her."

"Sure babe," James agreed, not wanting to talk about Lily that much anyway.

Narcissa's use of the word 'mudblood' didn't go unnoticed though but no one brought it up, preferring to store it and use it later on.

- - - - - - -

"I am so glad Dumbledore let me stay on this year," the girl announced happily as she fell backwards onto her bed. "I can't stand Beauxbatons, it's just so fake."

"You got that right," Lily muttered as she began putting some of her belongings in their right place.

The girl grinned at her. "They really did a number on you, didn't they?"

Lily shrugged, "Maybe, but it all worked out good so I can forget about it, can't I?"

"I guess…" the girl said not really convinced.

Alice popped into the dormitory, smiled at its inhabitants as she grabbed a hairbrush and waved it about.

"The trouble with having your best friend go out with one of the Marauders; when you hang out with her you end up hanging out with 'Cissa too. I was hoping we were past that last time James broke up with her. Why'd he have to get back with her?" She shook her head and sighed wearily before heading out again.

A small smile on her face Lily headed to the bathroom to change. While in there she shouted through to the girl. "Hey, Tae?"

"Yeah?" The girl answered, moving to the semi-open door.

"I was thinking on the train. Do you think if I hadn't come back early things would be different?"

"In what way?" Tae asked with a frown.

"Well," Lily said, coming out of the bathroom and finding herself face-to-face with the blonde-with-blue-streaks hair and ice blue eyes on a fair-skinned but lightly tanned girl. "Merlin you're freaky," she teased with a light laugh. "If I hadn't come back early then you'd probably still be with Sirius for a start, and I wouldn't be your friend right now, you'd probably be friends with…I don't know, Narcissa and Alex! And you know, you'd be down there right now, the one who's doing 'Cissy's hair instead of Alice."

Tae grimaced at the idea but gave Lily's words a bit of thought. "You might be right," she answered. "But that's not a good thing. I'd much rather have you as a friend than the other two, at least I know where I stand with you. I mean, sure, me and Sirius would probably be together right now, but given his track record what are the chances, honestly? I'll get him back on the one-woman path one day but until then I'm going to have a little bit of fun with him."

Lily laughed at her bubbly confidence. "Like what?"

Tae grinned secretly. "I can't tell you yet, but you'll love it, trust me."

Lily shook her head in an amused sort of way and said nothing as she headed for bed and Tae into the bathroom to get changed herself.

* * *

**A/N:** Ok, so I'm not very good at writing a French accent, and the translations might not be very good because I was using a free translator site but if anyone can do better then review and tell me 'cos I'll need a lot more of them from now on!

Do you like? I know it's taken a while but I've been busy writing for my new fic _In Mind, In Spirit. _Yep, that's right, I decided I'd give that idea a shot…it doesn't seem to have been very widely received though! Ah well, I'm gonna stick with it 'cos I like it. Time for some review responses methinks

**Elephant Wings **– Sorry about the delay! Enjoy it!

**Helen** – Chances are I'll see you on msn tonight, but here's your next chapter. I'll be sure to keep you informed even if we're not in Chemistry any more…THANK MERLIN!…And you're right, Lily probably would have been punished but I was tired and couldn't be bothered thinking one up and you weren't being much help at the time, were you?

**Lizthelaugh** – I agree, they do seem older, and they probably seemed 16 because that's how old I was when I wrote it (my b'day was last month). But it's hard to get inside the head of an 11 year-old when you're a few years older, how JK manages it I'll never know!

**The ORIGINAL Meathead** – See that? I got the hint eventually… he he

**Jen** – They're about to start 4th year, I don't know what grade that is because I'm not American (my friend thinks it might be grade 10 though). When you asked me it was the end of 2nd year.

**Spix **– I hope it was nothing too bad, by that I mean dangerous. Revenge can be oh, so sweet, but if you injure them you're gonna get into more trouble! Thank you for your kind words.

**Pigs can fly** – You really like it then, huh? Review some more for me then :D I've got 102 of them now!

**Porcelain Prayer** – LOL! I'm glad you think I'm improving, I hope it'll keep your attention to the end, it might get a bit too long though, we'll have to see…

**The Critique** – Longer? Well, I suppose it was quite short…is this one ok for you though?

Rae


	40. Revenge

"So how's it going?" Peter asked as he joined his friends in the Great Hall the next day.

"How's what going?" James asked, taking a break from shovelling food into his mouth. They'd only seen him a couple of minutes ago so surely he wasn't asking how they were, that was dim, even for Peter.

"The anima –" Peter began.

"Oh that," James cut him off. "It's going…well, not too good. Sirius and I found some information over the holidays but nothing we can really use."

"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "Just keeps saying how dangerous it is."

"Which it is," Remus commented. "I've already told you that. You shouldn't even be thinking about it."

"Yes, we should," Sirius countered. "It's what friends do."

Remus looked from him to James and Peter and back again, they all nodded in agreement. He let out a dejected sigh. "Well, as much as I appreciate it, I want no part in it," he informed them sternly.

"Fine," James said cheerfully, grabbing some more bacon from a plate. His eyes narrowed, "So, Quidditch try-outs in a couple of weeks, who's captain now? Somers, right? Well he'll let me play, bet he'll be a better captain that Sadiron, too. Ego too big for the pitch," he said, quickly changing topic.

"What are you –" Sirius began before being cut off.

"Talking about yourself again?" A familiar voice cut in with a snide remark. "Honestly Potter, do you never tire of it?"

"Nope, I could talk about myself all day," James answered coolly. "I have to wonder though, Evans, is your constant butting into my private conversations an excuse just to talk to me?"

Lily let out a hollow laugh. "Private conversations? About Quidditch? Whatever Potter. And why would I want to talk to you?"

"Lil, just leave it," Tae said from behind her, she could see the glint in James' eyes and knew this wouldn't end well.

James shrugged. "Because you're secretly hiding feelings for me. Don't deny it, Alex told us all about your little crush on me. In fact, I find it quite cute but I'm sorry love, you're not my type. I prefer girls who are a little less…What's the word, guys?"

"Loud?" Remus suggested weakly.

"Tempestuous?" Was Sirius' suggestion.

"Irritating," Peter put in.

"Actually, I was thinking repulsive," James spat coldly.

Lily looked like she'd been hit and desperately fought back tears that threatened to surface. "And yet you're still with Narcissa," she commented in a way that suggested she didn't see the logic there. She turned away from them and stormed out of the Great Hall then, leaving three grinning boys, one exasperated boy and one furious girl.

"Will you please try and be nice to her?" Remus asked James in particular. "She'd be a whole lot better towards you if you were."

"It works two ways," James pointed out. "And besides, she wasn't offended, she never is. The whole thing between us relies on insults and the like being traded, it just wouldn't work otherwise. We both know better than to take it personally."

"When you're talking about everything else, maybe," Tae growled, glaring at James. "But when you start on her looks it all changes you bundimun! Do you not know better than to insult _any_ girls looks?" She spoke fast and loud and continued before they had a chance to interrupt. "No, you probably don't because you're an idiot. You apologize before the end of the day or I'm going to come down on you so hard you're going to wish you'd apologized 100 times, in advance."

Then she too stalked out of the room, after her friend, leaving Remus and Sirius to convince James it would be in his best interests to apologize, they being the only ones to have experienced the full effect of revenge from Tae.

- - - -

**FLASHBACK:**

Their payback was fast and unexpected but not entirely unnecessary they had, after all, embarrassed the poor girl on her first day. All she'd wanted was to settle in, make new friends and get on with her life, they, alright so it was Sirius, Remus just happened to be there at the time, wouldn't let her. There was she was, eating breakfast alone when they'd approached her.

"It's Tegwen, right?" Remus asked her as he sat at her left side.

"Tae," she answered not realising that Sirius had sat at her right side. "Who are you?"

"Remus, I'm in third year too so we'll be having some lessons together. If you need help in any of them I don't mind," he offered pleasantly. "I assume the lessons are different at Beauxbatons?"

Tae shook her head. "Not really, in fact, from what I've read in the textbooks, we're ahead of you. We were due to start protective potions this year; you're still doing sleeping draughts."

"Really?" Remus asked his interest increasing as he heard this.

As he engaged the girl in talk of subject matter, Sirius was pouring a clear liquid into her drink of orange. Undetected he crept off the seat and began to make his way past them, Remus stopped him.

"Have you met Sirius?" He asked making Sirius stop to turn and smile at the girl.

"No but the name sounds familiar." Tae frowned and then realised. "Sirius Black?"

At hearing his name Sirius' smile turned to a charming grin. "You've heard of me?"

Tae nodded. "Mm-hmm," she sounded as she took a sip of her orange. "Apparently you're a 'bigheaded, prank-pulling, over-the-top little toad'." She looked him up and down noting in particular that he didn't seem at all bothered to be called such. "You don't look like a toad but I can see the rest was right."

Sirius' smile faltered. "Well you don't sound very French considering you're from a French school."

"A French school, yes," she answered, taking a pause to finish her drink. "But not France, I lived in England until about five years ago. I'd love to stay chat but I have to try and find my way around for lessons. I'm sure I'll see you later."

"Can't wait," Sirius muttered darkly waiting until she was out of sight before he grinned. "How long does that potion take to start working?"

Remus stared at him. "You spiked her drink?"

"Obviously and I'm glad I did the stuck up little…."

Tae left them with twenty minutes until her lesson was due to start. She didn't know how long she'd take to get there and she'd rather be early than late, as it was she still managed to get there 10 minutes after everyone else. She'd walked through corridor after corridor and not once had she seen another person and yet, when she arrived at her classroom, she could see the lesson had started. She entered the Muggle Studies classroom trying to be quiet but the door squeaked and everyone turned to stare at her, only for them to erupt into laughter a second later.

"You think that's funny?" The Professor demanded. "You turn up late and looking like…like…that!"

Tae was confused to say the least, as far as she knew she looked the same as always.

"Do you have a tongue girl? Use it!"

Tae tried to speak but no words would come out.

"Professor," she heard a girl say. "I don't think she did it deliberately, please, can I show her to the hospital wing?"

"Very well, but back here in five minutes."

The girl nodded and Tae found herself being steered away by her. Outside the classroom Tae was handed a mirror, her skin colour had been changed to green and blue stripes and her face was swollen greatly. Tears formed but the girl soothed her and introduced herself as Alice. As they walked to the hospital wing Tae found out a number of things; Alice was in Tae's dormitory, this wasn't the first time someone had been pranked in Hogwarts and it probably wasn't the last time Tae would be and it was more than likely that, since she had been in contact with them earlier, Sirius and Remus had done this to her. That was the moment Tae decided to get her revenge, and so she did, the very next night in fact.

"Remus, is that offer for help still available?" She asked him.

"Yeah, what do you need it with?"

"Potions," she admitted. "I know I said we were ahead of you but I could never work out how to do this one potion and…"

Remus helped her; he wasn't much good at potions though, as Alice had already informed Tae, and so he enlisted the other Marauders' help too. Together they sorted through the necessary details and Tae rewarded them with a bottle of butterbeer each.

"Where'd you get these?" Peter asked her.

"I brought them with me, I love the stuff, got a whole collection upstairs but I won't be able to enjoy it much longer."

"Why not?" James asked her.

"Because I'm not going to be around. I got pranked yesterday and, well, there were complications with removing it, apparently there isn't a safe way to do it and so the counter potion eats away at you from the insides. The doctor reckons I don't have more than a week."

"What?" Sirius asked, scared.

"I'm dying," Tae clarified.

There was an unnatural silence and they all drank there butterbeer. Fifteen minutes later the Marauders were sat in their dormitory when Sirius and Remus began to change colour. Their pale skin changed to blue and green stripes and their faces swelled up. The horror that came over their faces was unmistakeable.

"Oh no," Remus said, fear lacing his voice.

"Are we…? Are we going to die too?" Sirius asked.

"No, you can't," James said. "There has to be a counter spell or something.

"You heard Tae, there isn't one, she's being killed inside out and now we will too."

"That can't be right." James said, looking around the room trying to find the book from which the potion had come. Peter had already found it and was scanning the page.

"There's no mention of it," he said panicked.

"There never is!" Sirius was frantic now. "We have to go to the hospital wing; there must be something they can do!"

"Only remove the colour and puffiness," Remus said sombrely.

But still they went to the hospital wing where Doctor Nedalski returned their colour and decreased their puffiness instantly.

"Are we going to die?" Sirius asked him terrified.

Doctor Nedalski began laughing. "Why would you die? It's a simple little potion but I think I'll have to be having words with Professor Dumbledore, this isn't the first case this week."

The boys looked confused. "But we were told…She said…I'll kill her!" Sirius declared loudly.

"Who?" Remus frowned.

"That annoying little thing that's taken over Evans' place. Who do you think?"

"Tae? Why would you…" Remus' face changed from one of confusion to comprehension to a smirk in less than a second. "What a clever girl," he laughed.

"It's not funny," Sirius announced as they wandered through the corridors. "She really got me worried."

"Good," a female voice spoke, Tae's voice. "And next time you try to pull a prank on me I'll give you a real reason to."

**FLASHBACK END**

**- - - -**

Being reminded of this incident made James realise that he probably should apologise just to avoid getting some form of revenge of Tae. He tried to talk to her in lessons but she blanked him completely, he searched for her in corridors and the Great Hall at meal times but he could find no sign of her. In the Common Room that night he thought he saw a flash of red hair but it was gone too fast for him to say or do anything. By the time he went to bed he had paled considerably.

"I'm going to die aren't I?" He whimpered to Sirius.

"'Fraid so," he said sympathetically. "Remember that whatever she comes up with will be ten times worse than anything Evans could do to you, which no doubt you'll have to put up with as well."

James' whimper became almost a cry at this statement and for the first time in his life he went to bed fearing something, it was just a shame that something was the wrath of women.

- - - -

In the girls dormitory Lily and Tae were preparing for bed.

"Did James apologise to you at all today?" Tae asked her carefully.

Lily laughed bitterly. "Potter, apologise? Don't be stupid! The day Potter apologises will be the day the world ends."

"Yeah," Tae said distractedly, she was already thinking of a plan to get him back.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry about the delay, I've been in a real Growing Up… slump while I was writing for a West Wing 'fic that I had to get done while it was in my head and then I had the end of year rush in school, then I had to look after my older sister for a week while she was ill and then…You know what? My life's been hectic lately! But I should be back writing regularly for good now. Now, I only had one review for chapter 39, which I have responded to, I don't know if the lack of them was because you didn't like it or not but I've decided to carry on with the flashbacks of third year anyway and I'm going to be writing a new story _The Missing Year_ which will be the full third year if you don't want to read it all in flashbacks. I have to go now, please review!

Rae


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